


The Blossom of the Perfected Lotus

by webkilla



Series: Webkilla's Zootopia Stories [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Crime Fighting, Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Fluff, Romantic Subplot, the shipping is real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 54,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8914168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/webkilla/pseuds/webkilla
Summary: Nick is fresh out of the academy and there are a few not-quite savage mammals popping up, but it turns out that the three rams from Bellwhether's drug lab are back with new and strange drugs - can Nick and Judy catch them? Will Judy's buzzkill attitude doom their investigation? Will exposure to the new drugs spell doom for our heroes, or open up new unexpected avenues for them? Will pigs eating bacon be declared cannibalism?





	1. Let Them Eat Fish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick is fresh out of the academy and there are a few not-quite savage mammals popping up... or is there?

Leaning back in the cruiser, Nick Wilde, newly hired fox police officer in the ZPD, let out a strained sigh: “Flash? Really? I mean how can he control a car going that fast?”  
  
Judy Hops, Nick’s partner and cute grey-furred bunny, adjusted her seat and started the car: “No idea, but he had a clean record so all we could give him was a fine – though now we know where to look if he tries this again”  
  
With a chuckle, Nick put away his aviator sunglasses: “If there is anything you’ve shown me, then what people expect of you isn’t the only thing you have to offer - I figure it’s not bad to have that lesson hammered home again on your first day on the job”  
  
“Agreed – plus I put a tracking device in under the car. If he speeds again we get a message and Flash gets an even bigger fine in the mail. On his third try he’ll get a court summons” Judy said with a smug smile.  
  
Nick stifled another chuckle: “Wow fluff, getting all sneaky – wait, will that tracker stay on his car forever? Is that legal?”  
  
“It’ll pop off on its own when its battery runs low, or if we send a signal to it. Then ZPD sends a team of academy cadets out to find them, they get new batteries and go back into circulation” Judy explained, patting one of the pouches on her belt.  
  
Driving off, the two agreed that this was good information to keep in mind – especially when dealing with criminals. This led into a slightly spirited discussion on what to get for lunch. Judy knew a sandwich shop at Hawthorn and Lemon, while Nick wanted to go somewhere that had fish & chips: “Come on carrots, lets at least go to one of the bagel shops in the canal district. They do this thing with cured salmon... it’s so good!”  
  
“Eww - I don’t do meat, especially fish – you know that. Besides, Sjin’s Saladwiches are amazing – and I’m driving, so it’s moot point” Judy stated confidently.  
  
A bemused snort and a smile was all Nick could throw at his partner, because he knew she was right: “Do they give a police discount?”  
  
“Of course” Judy said in a chipper tone, exceedingly satisfied with the nod of approval Nick gave her for her bargain hunting  
  
“Good to see that you’ve at least learned something from me during our chats” Nick noted, referring to the many video-chats the two had enjoyed during his time at the police academy.  
  
Judy shrugged: “Perhaps, but I did get the impression that you were the one who learned the most whenever we talked”  
  
“Well it was useful, no doubt about that” Nick acquiesced, conceding furthermore that it was handy for keeping his spirits up during his time there as well.  
  
Judy was about to say something when the radio flared up, with Clawhauser’s voice coming in: “Hey you two, just got a call in from city hall. They had a cancelation for the S-3 safety briefing and Nick was next on the list on our end. It starts in half an hour, can you make it?”  
  
“The what what?” Nick quizzically said, looking at the radio.  
  
Judy grabbed the radio mike with a practised swiped: “Roger, we can be there in time. I’ll drop him off and resume my patrol afterwards”  
  
Nick’s quizzical – if not humorous - look turned to Judy.  
  
With a quick glance, Judy smiled at Nick: “Don’t worry – it’s just a safety briefing. All city officials have to attend it, and police officers have priority”  
  
“Neat – what’s it about?” Nick wondered.  
Flicking her ears about, Judy noted: “It’s about city hall’s new S-3 protocol, the new rules about how to handle any future cases of savage mammals – plus they include a free lunch for attendees. Trust me, you’ll love it, they’ll probably even have meat there”  
  
Now that got Nick’s attentions – both in what exactly city hall had cooked up for response to savage mammals, but also because he had really been out of the loop on that kind of stuff at the police academy, so this really piqued his curiosity. Also a free city hall lunch? Maybe they would even serve the fabled city hall pancakes... oh that sounded good.  
  
Judy laughed, seeing Nick zone out completely while rubbing his stomach: “Silly fox”  
  
“Dumb bunny” Nick shot back without even looking.  
  
They both laughed.  
  
At city hall, with its ivory white tower looming oddly non-threateningly over the nearby neighbourhoods, Nick discovered a newfound joy of his uniform. Mammals shot him nods of respect, stepped aside for him, and even held elevators open for him. Nobody had ever really been that courteous to him before!  
  
Asking for directions to the S-3 briefing, Nick found himself directed to a huge conference room. There were hundreds, if not thousands of mammals in there. Some looked like they had stepped straight off their route with a dump truck, while others were in casual office duds. Ultimately they all blurred together into a sea of fur, horns and ears.  
  
A cow in a business suit and a small pair of glasses started the presentation. Nick couldn’t help but think that this cow would make absolute bank working in the adult industry. Hadn’t he seen her in “Milk Maids 3: Udderly Delicious”? Either way she had an almost obscenely huge udder – it certainly made him grateful that there weren’t any kids around.  
  
The presentation itself was on the vaunted “Nighthowler Safety Protocol”  
  
To Nick’s endless amusement then it very quickly became clear that Judy had been part of the making of the presentation, since she was in a lot of the pictures showing supposedly savage mammals in hilariously comical and exaggerated ‘attack’ poses. She looked like something out a cheesy howloween costume catalogue... so of course city hall would have picked her for this! She was the least threatening mammal on the force to pose like she’s about to bite someone, at least as far as Nick was concerned. He could tell that others found it at least mildly amusing as well – he could hear whispered comments like “But bunnies can’t even show their claws... what would she do, nibble at my hooves?”  
  
The cow doing the presentation ran through her bullet-points in a well-rehearsed manner: “All medkits at city offices and vehicles have been outfitted with easy-inject needle-sticks containing the nighthowler cure. They work just like insulin needles: Press the pointy bit up against the skin of a mammal and press the button on the other end”  
  
The distribution of cure-shots included ambulances, garbage trucks, police cruisers and so on, which was illustrated via a picture of Judy posing awkwardly next to a police cruiser with an open boot and an open white medkit box visible.  
  
Per edict from the now former Mayor Lionheart, then the safety of the citizens was always paramount as the cow explained: “To make this very clear: Despite what the public has seen, then part of the research that developed the cure also proved that prey mammals can go savage – So the protocol in case of multiple savage mammals is to administer the cure to the biggest and most dangerous if mammals first. A rampaging savage rhino with no self-control can hurt a lot more citizens than a savage cat”  
  
Nick got the idea, but the picture of Judy trying to look as if she was snarling and menacing next to a comparatively miniscule mouse in a business suit who was doing the same pose just looked like comedy gold. He so needed to get a copy of those slides and print out some of those pictures.  
  
A question from the audience rang out: “Is there only one cure shot per kit since we have to prioritize?”  
  
The answer was no, though the cow noted that the amount depended on where the kit was located: “These things are expensive, and we don’t have that much wiggle-room left in this year’s budget, so police and health services have been prioritized for these to begin with. A good portion of next year’s budget will bring everyone else up to speed as well”  
  
This seemed to satisfy the mammal that had asked the question.  
  
“Again, the point of this protocol is to prioritize by size and physical features such as mass, horns, claws and fangs” the cow re-iterated.  
  
Nick took note: Stompy, gory, scratchy, bitey gets their shots first, then everyone else.  
  
The lunch buffet set up for the attendees was amazing. They had the cured salmon! Oh this was a good way to round off your first day on the job. Ok, and now three more hours of briefing on how and where to poke various mammals with the injectors... and they were using elderly mammals in swimwear for the pictures – the horror...

  
The next day, after the morning briefing in the bullpen, Nick and Judy quickly found themselves on Judy’s usual patrol route, when dispatch popped up on the radio:  
  
“We have a report of two possible savage mammal sightings at the Mystic Springs Oasis. Suspects are two goats. Approach with cau-“  
  
Dispatch didn’t even have time to finish before Judy had the radio mike in her paws and responded eagerly: “This is One-Ten-Six, we’re on it”  
  
Nick was a bit taken aback at how quickly Judy had reached for the mike – moreso that she had let go of the car wheel, prompting him to grab the wheel in a hasty move.  
  
As Judy put the mike back and took the wheel again, Nick commented: “A little trigger happy there carrots?”  
  
“Are you kidding? I try to grab all the savage sightings – it’s my thing, no – it’s our thing now!” Judy said, giving Nick a look that Nick could swear was downright predatory. She wanted this, that was much for sure.  
  
She was hungry for the hunt.  
  
Look aside, a part of what Judy had said stuck out to Nick: “Hold on, savage sightings? I thought we shut that down with Bellwether?”  
  
“We did, that’s the problem. A lot of mammals are still bit paranoid about seeing anyone who flies into a rage. Usually it’s just someone in a fight if they snarl a bit too much, or if someone escapes from a mental ward, or drunk mammals in a fight and so” Judy noted in a clearly dejected tone. Nick could tell from her eyes that those false alerts really bothered her.  
  
“Harsh” Nick commented, unsure of exactly what he should think.  
  
Gripping the steering wheel hard with her small fuzzy paws, Judy took a deep breath: “I guess I still feel guilty about all the trouble I caused after that damn press conference. Zootopia almost tore itself apart because of me – and there are still a lot of frightened mammals in the city, so I just try to clean up the mess I made”  
  
Patting Judy on the shoulder, Nick said: “As long as you don’t let it get to you. You shouldn’t hold yourself responsible for the actions of others, but I get that you want to change their minds”  
Pulling up to the nudist, no scratch that, ‘naturalist club’, Judy groaned: “Figures this would be the first place we’d end up responding to. At least I now know why I find this place weird now – no more mystery in the mystic oasis”  
  
“Let me guess, you came to the shocking conclusion that all the naked mammals make you uneasy?” Nick snarked, finding Judy’s discomfort quite amusing.  
  
Straightening out her cap and marching resolutely up to the door into the Mystic Springs Oasis, Judy turned to Nick: “As a matter of fact, yes. I read this article about mirror brain cells, which explained why different mammal species find undressed mammals of notably different species a bit weird looking and not necessarily very attractive”

Despite all of his wits and street-smarts, then Nick’s grasp of neurology could fit into a very small place. Judy continued: “Clothes cover it up for the most part, making us all appear equal – it’s a hardwired brain thing, not something we’re conscious about – and that’s why I’m no longer confused about being weirded out by it”

“If you say so fluff – still sounds like you’re just embarrassed to be around naked mammals – rationalization or not” Nick chided jokingly.

Inside, at the front desk, the same fly-swarmed yak stood like last time the due had been at the establishment, though this time he looked a tad less relaxed – something was clearly bothering him – his attempts at meditation sounded forced and he looked stressed. As the yak spotted the two officers coming at him he burst with elation: “Awesome! Hey It’s you two again, neat. Come on, I’ll show you were the goats are banging”

Both Nick and Judy quickly motioned to comment on that rather glaring inconsistency with the situation which had been called in, but Nick got in on it first: “Hold on – we were called out for two possible savage mammals, not public indecency”

“No man... it’s not like that. We get couples in here every now and then who go to the private corners of the gardens for that all the time, that’s why they’re private – but these two... they were making too much noise, but when I told them to quiet down they totally brayed at me like they were all savage... they were totally out of it! The buck even tried to gore me!” The yak explained, looking frazzled as he tried to communicate the frantic chase he had to endure.

Judy cautiously asked: “Where are they now?”

“...still going at it – I cordoned off that garden so nobody would disturb them”

Going through the oasis, Nick clearly saw that Judy looked less uncomfortable with all the naked mammals, though she still had that look of ‘this isn’t quite right’ on her face: “So Carrots, is it the years on the force or your revelation about your previous awkwardness here that makes you more at ease here?”

Her nose twitching for a brief moment in righteous indignation, Judy answered: “Understanding it is part of it, but part of it is basically incurable. Its...” she gave Nick an overly dramatic look: “...in our biology”

Giving his partner a deadpan smirk, Nick replied: “Haha – explain”

Judy chose not to, saying it’s that mirror brain cell thing. And being naked just amplifies it – like she had explained before they went in.

Nick shook his head in casual dismissal: “Not much of an explanation there, to honest”

The yak perked up at hearing that, letting out a chuckle: “Oh – you’re talking about mirror neurons. Sure, that’s the parts of your brain anatomy that defines what kind of mammal forms we like and identify with the most – that’s totally part of your biology. That’s why we’re hardwired to prefer mammals from our own species, or those really similar to our own – S’why you don’t see interspecies relationships: Our minds don’t see mammals from other species as potential mates – S’also why you have porn for every single species in Zootopia”

Judy looked suitably impressed: “So that’s what that meant – ok, but what about the clothes thing? I read this in some college paper I found online... it was very technical”

Nick perked an eyebrow, not sure if he should find this situation amusing or interesting as they walked past the mud-pit full of frolicking and naked and muddy pigs.

“Oh that’s easy - that’s why this place exists to begin with! When all mammals wear clothes we look the same, sort of – like in the back of our minds we do. It’s the great civilizing equalizer – makes us all similar, makes us all so boring and samey. The mammals that come here want to step out of that for an afternoon, be who and what they really are deep down... and ya that might look strange to mammals who haven’t tried it – but we have plenty of regulars” the yak elaborated, sounding very much as if this particular topic about wearing clothes was something he had argued on quite a lot.

This time Judy looked down right surprised, a puzzled expression having crept over her face to the point that she had completely stopped paying attention to the naked mammals around her: “That... I hadn’t thought of clothes like that”

Nick quickly noted: “Does that mean that the goats you called about just wanted to get back to nature as well?”

“No way – they were completely out of it... look, they’re right over there”

The sounds of bestial passion were as unmistakable as they were ever so slightly worrying. These weren’t cries of passion... these were bleats, bestial grunts and unintelligent noises.

While still out of sight of the goats, Judy stopped – looking pensive, even unsure: “Nick, we have to be careful – got to do this right if they really are savage”

“I’m still not buying it. They’re not on a rampage – they’re lovers, not fighters” Nick said, finding the situation too implausible, despite being right there along with Judy.

Judy remained focused, paws at her variable-dose tranq-gun: “Maybe, maybe not – we’ve never had a case of two savage mammals of the same race in close proximity. Maybe that triggers a different response in them?”

“Ok, that could be the case – why don’t we take a peek first?” Nick suggests, the sounds of goat-humping having subsided for the moment.

Peeking around the hedge that separated that particular private garden area from the rest of the nudist club, Nick and Judy saw a lone goat eve grazing.

Ok, eating grass... right off the ground, is that barbaric? Yes, but it’s not... holy crap: “Carrots, her eyes!” Nick blurts out.

The eve had the very telltale ‘savage eyes’- the stark yellow unnatural color was a dead giveaway.

Judy steeled herself, took a deep breath, looking around the corner of the hedge again: “Hold on – that’s not really... well a little... they’re not s like what Mr. Mancha’s had”

Nick, feeling increasingly freaked out at the idea of a new savage shooter starting up: “She’s not a cat! Her eyes are different - but that there is not normal goat eyes Carrots”

A very angry bray from behind them announced the appearance of the buck – a slim and lean sort, but his horns were each the size of Nick’s head, and he appeared twice the mass of Nick. His eyes were also yellow like two squirts of mustard with a squished olive for a pupil on top.

“Ok, that’s a savage goat... backing off, backing off” Nick hastily noted, as the two backed well away.

The buck miraculously remained at the entrance to the garden, defending it, guarding it, but not attacking... but he did look at Nick and Judy intensely with his goat eyes. It made one wonder: What did the goat see?

No doubt savage – but not... aggressive? Defensive, yes, but not attacking. What the hay?

“This is Officer Hopps, we have eyes on the two savage goats the nudist club, they’re unresponsive and get aggressive if we get close, but aren’t attacking – do we bring them in?” Judy hastily spoke into her radio.

Bogo’s voice rattled in on the radio a few seconds later: “Tranq them, give them a cure shot and bring them in – make sure to get some good bodycam video of them, I’m sure city hall has some eggheads on payroll who’ll want to see that”

Nick cocked at eyebrow at the mention of bodycams. He hadn’t actually paid attention to the fact that everything he said or did on the job was recorded... or was it? He’d have to look into that. Oh, and savage goats – right.

“If they’re influenced by nighthowler serum they’re a potential threat to public safety – you have your orders” Bogo finished, Judy looking all kinds of ready to take the shot.

Ten minutes of trying to talk to the two goats, with only unintelligent and at times angry or annoyed bleating and braying in response - if any at all, Nick and Judy both agreed that there was ample documentation in their bodycams of how the goats reacted to them trying to talk to or approach them.

Just as the buck turned to return to his eve, Judy motioned for Nick to get ready, as she whispered: “You take out the buck, I’ll rush in and take his girlfriend”

Nick nodded, finding Judy’s very serious demeanour strangely calming – then again, a savage billy goat was less than thirty feet away with gnarled curly horns who could probably destroy him completely. For a brief moment Nick closed his eyes and took solace in just how professional his partner was.

Judy clenched her tranq gun hard and sent Nick a stern look: “On three. One, two, three!”

Nick popped out of hiding, quickly taking aim for the buck. Holding his breath, he saw the ram turn to look right at him as he squeezed the trigger, his pulse racing. The buck just barely managed to lower his head to bare his horns as the tranq dart hit him in the shoulder. The effect was about as immediate as possible, the buck only managing a single panicky bleat before falling asleep.

Judy had this strange almost predatory grin as she leapt off, bounding towards and over the buck, shooting the other goat while mid-air. The eve was down before she landed on the ground. It was glorious.

“Yes!” Judy exclaimed, fist-pumping victoriously. Nick breathed a sigh of relief: Was this what two years on the force did to you? Not bad.

Borrowing a wheelbarrow from the nudist club and getting Yax’s help, Nick got the two goats to the squad car and administered the cure injections while Judy collected the personal effects of the two goats. Among clothes, some water bottles, some saltines and wallets she found a plastic breathmint dispenser that, upon inspection, had some very strange pills in them...

On their way back to the precinct, Judy showed Nick the pills: “This has to be it – look at them”

Small, with a characteristic blue color, Nick had to agree – they looked like Bellwether’s nighthowler serum pellets as chewable gel-pills. Judy was ecstatic, barely able to drive straight or wait at intersections.

Nick found Judy’s elation quite infectious. Hell of a way to start your first week on the force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my first Zootopia fanfic
> 
> I have written many other fanfics in the past - and I'll say this right here a the beginning: I wrote this story with the criminal mystery to begin with... everything else came afterwards. I hope that makes for an interesting story.


	2. Fun & Feral: Entrapment Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets real as the sort-of savage goats get processed, but things don't turn out of as expected - especially not when naked Cheetahs show up in palm trees! This must clearly be celebrated, and thus the duo goes to an after-hours social.

It caused no small amount of commotion at precinct one when Judy and Nick came up from the holding cells, having deposited the goats in the drunk tank to sleep off the tranqs.  
  
The rest of the day the two filed the preliminary paperwork for their two detainees. No official charges were filed against them yet, but that could change: Public intoxication was an option, but that all pended on the two recovering and what their stories were. The original nighthowler concentrate that made you go savage had been classified as an illegal drug and toxin, so possession might also be added to the charges – but that was only if the pills actually contained nighthowler anything – and Bogo decreed that the pills wouldn’t be sent off to a lab until the two goats had a change to explain things: “For all we know they might have been tricked into this or simply poisoned – innocent until proven otherwise above all else”  
  
The next morning as Nick met up with Judy outside the rather large and very heavily reinforced steel door to the drunk tank, the fox gave his partner a nod: “Are they awake yet?”  
  
“Ya, they woke up at some point last night – nightwatch fed them a midnight snack since they hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. They were lucid enough to take the food, but didn’t want to talk” Judy noted, sounding... disappointed.  
  
Looking at the rhino-proof steel door towering before him, Nick perched an eyebrow: “Is that a bad thing?”  
  
“No, but I’ve reviewed the surveillance footage since they woke up – that... is bad, sort of” Judy almost derisively replied.  
  
Nick knew the tone of someone holding an uncomfortable truth back quite well – and while that usually signaled that one should back off, it only made him more curious.  
  
Taking the two out and putting them in each of their own interrogation room, Judy’s ominous statement quickly started to make sense: The two weren’t talking, and they had clearly agreed on that in unison.  
  
The idea that the two had been poisoned decreased by the minute.  
  
Detective Oats, a large brown-coated horse that Bogo had assigned to head the investigation – with Nick and Judy assisting – didn’t look impressed, even less so as he looked over Judy’s notes on the surveillance footage: “So, she’s a divorce lawyer? No wonder she told her husband to clam up. Ya the tapes look solid enough, they sound like first time users who got caught”  
  
Nick, not having seen the tapes yet, just nodded. It seemed as if Judy and Oats knew each other, probably from other cases they had worked on together.  
  
Leaving the two goats to stew a bit in the interrogation rooms, with Oats going off to work some other cases, Judy took Nick to her workstation to show the security footage.  
  
On their way there, Nick asked: “Is this is the first case of savage prey mammals?”  
  
Judy hesitated for a moment: “Ya, more or less... I mean, my family told me of an uncle of mine who once ate a nighthowler flower – but... this is different – maybe it’s something else? A new designer drug?”  
  
“At the academy they taught me about all the usual drugs on the market and what they do to mammals. From catnip to lambspread – and those two... only nighthowlers make you behave like that” Nick said, falling back on his academy training since he really didn’t have much else. Before meeting Judy he had always stayed well away from anyone dealing drugs, even if they had often boasted that the money was really good. It was just too dangerous, and Nick had always aimed for the long game – he had wanted to live long enough as a hustler to retire one day.  
  
Judy skipped through a lot of the footage, showing Nick the highlights. Right after the husband had woken up, and woken up his wife, she had gotten up and knocked on the door: “What time is it? I have to get to work!”  
  
Nick chuckled: “Well she sure has her priorities straight”  
  
“Oh it gets better” Judy said in a dejected tone.  
  
Fast forwarding, the two naked goats appeared to get into an argument:  
  
“How long have we been in here? Who picked up Jamie from daycare?” the husband said, sounding very worried.  
  
Nick made a pained expression: “Ouch, they did this while their kid was at daycare? Should we get social services in on this?”  
  
“What they did wasn’t strictly illegal... plus, check out the wife’s reaction to what he just said” Judy noted, fast forwarding a little.  
  
The husband flittered around on the screen a bit until Judy stopped fast forwarding, at which point the wife grabbed him by his billy goat gruff: “Just shut up – we haven’t done anything illegal, so they can’t hold us. If they try to interrogate us, just ask if you’re under arrest. If we are, tell them to call my firm and have them send over Jamie to represent us, then shut up, if not then shut up as well”  
  
While going through a bit more of the tapes, Oats popped in: “Hey you two, Bogo says to wrap it up – we’re letting them walk”  
  
The look of frustration and disbelief on Judy’s face spoke volumes. Nick sighed: “We’re not letting them stew a bit more to see if they crack? The husband sounds skittish”  
  
Oats shrugs: “Not my call – turn ‘em loose and take it up with Bogo if you have a problem with it”  
  
Her foot tapping furiously, with a speed that would put most speed metal band drummers to shame, Judy clenched her small furry paws. Nick put a hand on her shoulder: “Carrots, chill – we know who they are, we can tail them to see if they go back to their dealer”  
  
“Not happening – the divorce lawyer lady would know not to do that. But...” Oats began. Judy’s ears perked up. Nick too turned to give Oats a curious look, the perpetually tired-looking stallion’s expression subtly twisting into a horsey flavour of a sly grin: “...but the pills you two found did get sent to the lab before the release order came in”  
  
Judy bounced up in joy: “Yes!”  
  
Thus the two goats were let go. Bogo later confirmed that his choice to order the release of the goats was based on the surveillance footage and the two’s coordinated reluctance to talk about what had happened. It would be a while until the test reports on the pills would come back, but that would hopefully be a lot more revealing.  
  
Following this Nick and Judy were returned their patrol beat. The next few days were woefully uneventful – responding to regular calls and reports while out and about. Judy was a fair bit annoyed over the goats, calling the crime lab daily for updates on the pill report – not that it helped much: They had apparently outsourced that testing to a specialist lab somewhere else, and weren’t telling where.  
  
On that Friday, Nick’s first Friday as a police officer, Nick wanted to celebrate his first week as a cop and cheer Judy up just the same – after work of course: “Come on Carrots, it’ll be fun – I’ve been told that this place has an amazing blueberry brandy, you’ll love it”  
  
Gripping the steering wheel tight, Judy sighed heavily: “Nick, look... I know you mean well, and I get that you want to celebrate your first week as an officer, but I’m just not in the mood, sorry”  
  
“I know you’re in a bad mood – that’s why I think you should come with me and the others – take your mind off those goats and go have fun” Nick tried again, refusing to let Judy’s bad mood sour his optimism.  
  
Breaking at an intersection, Judy slowly turned to look at Nick. She knew he meant well, but he just didn’t understand: “Look, I know you mean well – but it’s not just the goats”  
  
Nick perked an ear and an eyebrow, listening as Judy continued.  
  
“I’ve been doing this for two years now. You know I joined the force to make a difference, to protect and serve, to catch the bad guys... right?” Judy said in a notably tired and exasperated tone.  
  
Nodding with a smile, Nick gestured for Judy to go on.  
  
“Well that’s not what I’ve been doing for the last two years. That’s not what you’ll end up doing. We just end up picking up stoned drug users and hauling them to safety, or breaking up bar fights and help finding missing teeth, or guard social services when they take away someone’s kids because mommy likes her gin too”  
  
“Sounds fun” Nick said sincerely, not seeing what Judy was seeing.  
  
Rubbing her brows, Judy gritted her teeth: “Cheese and crackers Nick, no it’s not. Bellwether was an anomaly – pretty much all we do is stop stupid mammals from doing stupid things, and then clean up their mess when we come too late and then have them scream at us for doing our job when we arrest them – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a parent yell at me for daring to arrest their shoplifting kid”  
  
It finally dawned on Nick: “Ah... so those two goats got your hopes up – that there might be a proper villain back in town for you to catch”  
  
With eyes that cried out in yearning, Judy threw her paws up – briefly – before gripping the steering wheel again: “Yes! But then it’s just two horny goats – the pills will probably be a dud too, I mean who would eat nighthowlers willingly? That, Nick, is why this is bumming me out so hard”  
  
“All the more reason to toss back a few shots of blueberry brandy with me and the others tonight – it’ll take your mind off things” Nick implored.  
  
Maybe it was that Nick didn’t seem to accept her no, or maybe it was something else, but Judy wasn’t having any more of this: “Nick, stop – just, stop. Getting drunk won’t change how miserable this job is”  
  
That hit Nick hard. Judy looked so sad, so fed-up – this was bad...  
  
“Possible savage mammal sighting in Savannah central, female cheetah, nude, up in a palm-tree at Savannah boulevard and 63rd” the radio suddenly burst out.  
  
Judy seized the radio with an iron grip: “This is one-ten-six-Two, we’re on it – two minutes out!”  
  
“Copy that one-ten-six, be careful” Dispatch responded as Judy gunned the engines and Nick flicked on the siren and the lights.  
  
At Savannah Boulevard and 63rd Street, high up in the bough of a thirty foot palm tree, was indeed a naked and growly cheetah, who eyed Nick and Judy suspiciously as they approached, though it – like the goats – was not attacking anyone.  
  
“It looks like she’s looking for something...” Nick noted.  
  
Judy shrugged and nailed the cat with a tranq dart, much to the applause of the members of the public.  
  
Nick wasn’t feeling the adulation that much, since he had tried to catch the cheetah as it fell down – and he succeeded too – but the big was three times his weight... the precinct chiropractor was sure to have fun undoing that damage later on: “At least she’s not a tiger”  
  
Witnesses identified the cheetah as a local, and just a cursory look at the apartment complex she lived revealed that her window was broken open – with curtains and shreds of clothes hanging out over the windowsill. Another witness confirmed that the cheetah had leapt out of the window, onto a street-lamp, then rushed up into the palm-tree.  
  
After stashing the cheetah in the cruiser and giving her a shot of the cure, Nick and Judy investigated the cheetah’s apartment: Not much looked out of order – but in the bedroom... well, apparently the cheetah had started ripping up her clothes before jumping out the window.  
  
“Judy, check this out... more pills” Nick said, having found a small heart-shaped paper box with three blue gel-pills.  
  
Down on the street, even with the apartment up on the second floor, mammals walking by could all clearly hear the shout of joy from up in the apartment. Up in the bedroom Nick stood dazed and confused, his ears ringing. Judy was bouncing around, raving about distribution, and drug patterns, and how exciting all this was.  
  
As Nick’s hearing finally tuned back in, the ringing having subsided enough to let him hear other mammals talking, he pointed a potentially important connection: “Hold on Carrots, slow your roll – the cheetah was at least partially undressed before all this started. Shouldn’t we check if she has any connection to the nudist club?”  
  
Judy’s eyes narrowed and she got that predatory grin again: “Nick Wilde – I could kiss you!”  
  
Of course, she didn’t. Instead she gave Nick a friendly punch to the shoulder – which hurt a lot more than last she had done that, back in the underground after the original nighthowler lab had blown up two years – and so while Nick nursed a sore shoulder Judy got on the phone with the Mystic Springs Oasis: “Hey Yax, its officer Judy Hopps. Yes, no not about them. I need to know if you have a female cheetah who frequents the Mystic Springs. Her name? Hold on...”  
  
Judy threw Nick, and the fox scrambled to find something with the name of the apartment’s resident. A stack of paid bills next to a computer had the cheetah’s name: “Mindy Loeber”  
  
Relaying the name, the duo waited for a moment – then Judy nodded: “Ok, interesting – thank you”  
  
“So... is Mindy a naturalist?” the fox curiously inquired.  
  
Judy shook her head, her ears flopping about vigorously: “Nope – isn’t that great?”  
  
Nick was ever so slightly taken aback by Judy’s statement: “Hold on Carrots, isn’t that a bad thing?”  
  
While securing the crime scene and waiting for the CSIs to show up, Judy explained her sudden re-invigoration: Two separate cases of savage mammals, both involving strange and quite-likely nighthowler-related pills, pointed towards someone manufacturing and distributing these drugs...  
  
“So you got your big bad to track down” Nick said, nodding in approval.  
  
Judy beamed, looking out the broken window: “You betcha – now, weren’t you talking about celebrating tonight?”  
  
Later, after the CSIs had taken over the crime scene, after getting back to precinct one and clocking out, Nick led the way to a bar where he had understood that a number of their other colleagues tended to go on Fridays after hours. It was a nice little hole in the wall within walking distance of the precinct.  
  
Judy almost felt disappointed as she saw that they were going to The Watering Hole – her colleagues had been trying to lure her there for ages – but Nick’s unbridled “new job, new life” optimism made it difficult to complain.  
  
To Nick’s relief, having been warned by the other officers on B shift of Judy’s reluctance at going to any kind of social events with them, Judy stepped through the worn doorway without objection. The smoke-stained windows gave a nice muted light inside the establishment, and the ring of booths surrounding the bar was dotted with familiar faces fellow off-duty officers enjoying an early Friday evening.  
  
One thing that instantly struck Nick, aside from the pleasant smell of deep fried spuds and other flavours of barfood wafting out from the kitchen, was that the booths and barstools were all scaled for large mammals. The savannah decor nailed it home: This was an old rhino and lion bar.  
  
“Hey you two, over here” Wolford called out. The wolf, sitting at one of the far end booths, looked amusingly small at the table. Of course, this meant that for Nick he had to stand on the booth seat and just lean on the table as if that was a bar. Judy just jumped up on the table and sat down on an upturned shot glass.  
  
The visage of Judy, in civilian clothes, sitting on a rhino-scaled shot glass, in the soft light of the stained glass windows, was... amusing – cute even, though Nick knew well enough to stay his tongue on that topic, not wanting to bring down Judy’s good mood.  
  
A young rhino girl in a white shirt, black skirt and yellow and brown tribal patterned apron came up to take orders from the newcomers.  
  
“I’ll have a pint of your best brown ale and she’ll have a glass of your blueberry brandy, on the rocks – both to scale” Nick quickly let out, all the while Judy told the rest of the gang of their discovery with the savage cheetah.  
  
It amused Nick endlessly to see a rhino barkeep pull of a rhino-sized pipette to take a few drops from a clay jug big enough to fit a cow into and gently squeeze its contents it into comparably miniscule drink glass. The frosty mug for his own beer was roughly the same story, though here the mug was at least big enough that the rhino didn’t need to use tweezers to hold on to it.  
  
Once they had their drinks Judy called out a toast to the newest addition to B rotation – precinct one’s day shift: “To our newest colleague – to Nick!”  
  
Everyone chimed in roaringly and took a big gulp of whatever they were drinking, though Nick only paid attention to Judy as she sipped her blueberry brandy – the dark red drink leaving thick trails of aromatic oils on the sides of her almost spherical scotch glass. After her sip Judy’s face almost curled in on itself as the bitter flavour hit the bunny hard, but after swallowing she looked up: “Not bad... reminds me a little of my uncle’s carrot scrumpy”  
v Nick had no idea what scrumpy was, but Judy seemed to like the stuff, so it was all good.  
  
Finishing the brandy rather quickly, Judy excused herself and bounded out to the lady’s room, leaving Nick with the others.  
  
“Hey Nick – gotta say it’s good to see Judy finally show up for one of our after-hour outings” Delgato casually noted, the tigress nursing a big mug of some kind of pale ale.  
  
Looking up at the tigress, Nick shot the striped cat lady a quizzical look while he was muzzle-deep in his brown ale: “Blub?”  
  
Putting his beer down, Nick looked around – everyone was nodding.  
  
“What do you mean?” the fox asked, his tail giving off a curious swish.  
  
Francine, elephant at the back of the booth, gave Nick a dismissive wave and a cheerful laugh: “oh its nothing... ok it is – or maybe, it’s just that the last two years with Judy she’s never come to any of our social events here. We’ve been worried that she isn’t getting out and having fun... it’s not good for a cop to be all work and no play”  
  
“Ya, you seriously need something to de-stress with when you clock out or this job will eat you – I have a historical re-enactment club I go to” Fangmeyer chimed in, sounding only happy to be able to plug his hobby.  
Nick couldn’t quite imagine Fangmeyer in a medieval getup, but the part about having something fun to do outside of work made perfect sense to him – it also worried him a bit: “Well me and Judy have been talking on and off while I was at the academy – she gave me a lot of good advice, but I had no idea she wasn’t hanging out with the rest of you”  
  
“Well let’s if we can’t change that – ‘Always on duty Judy’ is a great cop, but she’s no fun at all” Mchorn chimed in.  
  
A very rapid tapping sound announced the presence of cute little bunny down on the floor at the end of the table. Judy did not look pleased...  
  
Thinking quickly, Nick figured it was better to cut their losses and find somewhere more suitable for them – sure his colleagues had meant well, Judy looked pissed: “You know what guys, I’m really happy you’d invite me and Hopps along for this – but this place is just a few sizes too big for us”  
  
Wolford, wielding a rhino shotglass full of beer like an oversized beer stein without handles, shrugged with a smile: “It’s ok – we just wanted you to feel welcome here. We’ll always have a seat for you here, and I’m sure Mchorn would gladly down another shot so Hopps has somewhere to sit”  
  
The rest of the off-duty officers all agreed and had a toast to the two of them as they walked out.  
  
Leaving with Judy right behind him, the two considered their options outside the bodega. Judy didn’t look impressed: “I should just go home – even the others say I’m being a downer”  
  
Now, this would have sounded really bad and downer-like if not for the rather unintentional but heavily reverberating burp Judy followed her statement up with.  
  
“Wow carrots, you got my ears ringing again – you going to do that every time I buy you a drink?” Nick quipped, rubbing his ears.  
  
Judy did not look amused, though she did momentarily lose balance as she jumped down the steps from the door to the bodega: “No I, whoa – I just – look Nick I know you meant well, but you heard them: Even our colleagues think I’m boring to be around”  
  
“Carrots, you clearly didn’t hear everything we were talking about, big ears or not. They were worried about you never coming alone to socialize with them after work, you know, doing the ‘all work and no play makes for a burnt out cop’ routine” Nick admonished, not as in trying to be harsh, but in an attempt to head off whatever negative vibes Judy was cultivating by being as direct as possible: This was supposed to be a fun night and he didn’t want Judy getting all sad due to a misunderstanding.  
  
Her little rabbit nose twitched for a brief but furious moment then came to a rest – thus Nick knew that his trick had worked. Judy looked lost in thought, trying to compute what Nick had just said, so he seized the opportunity and flagged down a cab.  
  
Judy didn’t object when Nick ushered her into the cab, though she did raise an eyebrow when he told the cow-cabbie to take them to The Third Foot. She hadn’t heard of the place, but she seemed to trust Nick well enough...  
  
In the wall between downtown and tundratown, just far enough from the frost-gates that there weren’t any flurries of snow blowing around even though it was a bit chilly, Judy looked at the sign for the nightclub: It showed a generic mammal silhouette from the side, with a third foot jotting out the silhouette’s backside, instead of a tail.  
  
“Nick, what is this place?” Judy asked bluntly and without hestitation – there were a lot of foxes, badgers and other small-ish predator mammals milling about outside the place.  
  
The fox quickly explained that it was a humble nightclub with a simple gimmick: You weren’t let in unless you were under three foot tall. The music from inside the club was spilling out like liquid vibrations, making the asphalt thrum with a rhythmic beat. Also the line outside was hundreds of mammals long.  
  
Nick strode up to the doorman, a beefy looking wolf who appeared as the sort that spent way too much time in a gym, exchanged a few words – pointed back to Judy – and as if by magic the two were let in without having to wait in line. The music hit Judy hard, indeed rabbits and other mammals with very sensitive hearing rarely enjoyed very loud music, but it wasn’t that bad: It was more bass than noise. This was music you felt, not music you really heard.  
  
“Do I even want to know how you got us in here?” Judy groaned, her tone somewhere between ‘I don’t want to know’ and ‘please tell me this is above board’.  
  
The russet furred off-duty police officer just smiled and led Judy up to the bar and asked Judy if she wanted anything. The bunny gave Nick a suspicious if not slightly coy look: “Are you trying to drink me under the table?”  
  
Nick leaned in real close to Judy, so close that his calm breath ever so slightly ruffled the fur around her left check and the left side of her throat. Judy remained perfectly still, though her nose did start twitching again: “Why yes carrots, I am obviously trying to get you drunk so I can scurry off with you and have my way with you” Nick said in a mix of smooth sultry sugar and deadpan, trying to get a rise out of Judy.  
  
This worked apparently, as Judy sat straight up, looking somewhat horrified before almost mechanically turning to the honeybadger barkeep and asking: “Do you have Absolute Gullerod? Good, four shots of that”  
  
Nick casually ordered another dark ale – because why waste time drinking what amounted to pee with bubbles in it, when you could have actual flavour – though he was taken aback by Judy hammering back the first two of her shots: “Damn carrots, I hope you can handle all all those or you won’t be able to walk home”  
  
Steadying herself after the second shot and slowly putting the glass down, Judy looked up at Nick with an almost disappointed look on her face. Almost, because her upper lips were stained bright orange from her carrot vodka. Nick wasn’t really sure what to make of that, but it sure looked funny.  
  
Finding a place to sit – no small feat considering the densely populated club, with mammals of almost every shape and size (though none taller than three feet) packing the three separate dance floor areas, the two bars and many booths with tables and seats – Nick asked into what exactly Judy had been spending her spare time on when not on duty.  
  
At first Judy giggled. Like, full on school-girl giggling. Again, Nick wasn’t really sure what to make of it – but he did infer that whatever Judy had been doing had been fun, which was at the very least a good thing.  
  
“What spare time?” Judy said, as she leaned in over the polished metal table and tossed back her fourth shot. She was a bit wobbly, which made sense after what amounted to 4 drinks in less than an hour, though Nick – who was still only on his second beer – was getting a tad unsure if Judy was planning on lasting throughout the night, or the hour, even.  
  
As per Judy’s reply, Nick found himself frowning: “Wait... so the guys weren’t kidding when they called you ‘Always on duty Judy’?”  
  
Shaking her head briefly but vigorously, her ears flopping all over the place, Judy slipped back onto her seat with a pleased grin on her face: “Spent all my off-duty ours reading up and training to qualify for anything I could get my paws on – like, three months ago I qualified for TUSK certification”  
  
“Wow... but why didn’t you tell me that when we had our weekly chats?” Nick said, referring to their weekly phone-sessions while he was at the academy.  
  
Judy shrugged and sniffed at the last of her four carrot vodka shots: “I talked at the precinct. It doesn’t count until you’ve actually been out on a TUSK sortie – I need the certification, that’s just a few more tests and stuff, then you need to get tapped for a TUSK sortie”  
  
Nick tried to imagine Judy all decked out in black TUSK gear, but he had never seen a TUSK member in Judy’s size – so instead he tried imagining Judy in the usual medium or large mammal TUSK gear, which made for an amusing mental image.  
  
“Hey, I think someone wants your attention” Judy said, her ears having zeroed in on something behind Nick to his right, her nodding in that general direction.  
  
Turning to look, Nick saw a lovely young Vixen in a scandalously tight skirt and shoulder-less top: “Why hello”  
  
Looking at Judy for a brief second, Nick got a “Go ahead” look from Judy, prompting him to get up and entertain the young lady who wanted his company.  
  
The two danced a bit without saying a word, Nick finding the vixen’s sinuous and writhing movements quite pleasing and speaking volumes on their own – but... he knew damn well that if he was looking for a bit of rough then he could do that any day. Still, she was cute enough, and when he handed her his business card, which included his private phone number she seemed quite surprised to find that he was a cop, but in a good way.  
  
As Nick sauntered back to the table, smiling to himself and thinking “Still got it” he suddenly came to a rather hilarious realization: He never got the vixen’s name... doh. Was he losing his game?  
  
His thoughts on the vixen’s name and lack there-of made Nick miss the fact that his beer-mug had been refilled with an even darker brew, and that Judy was now sipping on a large can of soda with a straw in it.  
  
“Had fun out there? Or did ya strike out?” Judy asked, looking somewhere between tired and ever so slightly disappointed.  
  
With supreme confidence Nick had a sniff of the new beer before him, then a sip. Oh this was the good stuff! Such flavour, such richness! With a big grin Nick declared: “Did I strike out? No, no I did not – but I’m not here for random flings – I’m here with you... and what is up with this beer? This is amazing!”  
  
A big smile grew over Judy’s face: “Oh you didn’t have to – and that’s an oatmeal stout. I recognized the brand at the bar, they make that one back home in Bunnyburrow”  
  
Nick gave a respectful nod to Judy and the fine beer, enjoying a big swig of it. Oh yes, this was like one of those craft microbrew ones he previous could never afford.  
  
“You know, for a beer made on oatmeal – it is made of oatmeal rirght?... this is really good – reminds me of this ale spiced with myrtle I tried at a ren-fair once” the fox mused, taking sip and after sip of the delicious brew.  
  
Judy appeared pleased as punch that her choice in beer pleased Nick: “You at a renaissance fair? Didn’t picture you as a history buff”  
  
“It was ‘work’ related, Finnick knew someone who wanted to buy a lot of leather, made a lot of money that day” Nick regaled, recalling the time him and Finnick had spent scouting junk yards and city dumps for trashed lizard hide couches they could rip and scavenge. Cleaning the stuff up and removing ‘unwanted smells’ had been a bit tricky, but in the end it had paid off handsomely: “They loved that it looked worn”  
  
“To entrepreneurial spirit!” Judy burst out, almost face-planting on the polished steel table, which had become moist from the ambient heat in the club: There were a lot of mammals, packed tight on the dance floor, working a sweat and busting a move.  
  
Nick toasted along with Judy, though her almost slipping up and falling over made him painfully aware of how tipsy she appeared to be.  
  
“Thanks carrots – but hey, you feeling ok? You look pretty sloshed” the ex-hustler cautioned.  
  
Judy took just a moment or two too long to focus on Nick and answer – she was so obviously drunk, though whether by a miracle of self-control or a fluke of nature then her speech wasn’t slurred much at all, it was merely slowed as she appeared to need extra time to think for each word or statement: “I’m fine... you’re fine... we’re... fine” – it didn’t help that the last bit came out sounding like a very drunk attempt at sexy bedroom talk.  
  
In Nick’s mind it didn’t matter that Judy was drunk. Hell, according to the rest of his co-workers then she needed the catharsis, plus he figured that if Judy was finally drunk enough to have mellowed out, then it wouldn’t hurt to stay and shoot the shit a bit more – plus it meant he could get another pint of this delish brew!  
  
One pint later, and Nick wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Judy had gotten something else to drink, and she had drunk it, but now they were somehow out of the club. Ok, the ground was wobbly, that... that couldn’t be a good thing – say, hailing a cab or something sounded like a really good idea right about now.  
  
Oh this car has really soft seats... mmmm... feels good enough to take a nice nap on.  
  
“Nick, don’t – the cabbie needs your address” Judy said, tugging at Nick’s shirt collar.  
  
The sleepy fox didn’t find the interruption that nice, but hey ok: “Grand avablha...”  
  
Ok, talking was hard. Mmm, mouth still tasted like that beer. Judy looks annoyed, that’s not good. Ok, phone! Map app, favourites, home: “Here”  
  
Judy showed the cabbie the address while Nick got comfortable again – only to be brutally woken up by her again a second later – oh they were at his place! Awesome!  
  
It had always amazed Nick just how strong Judy was for her size, and now she was helping him get up to his apartment – how nice of her.  
  
Inside Nick’s place, which was a lot emptier than usual ever since he had stopped using it as a temporary warehouse for the various fun things he was hustling to sell, or working on fixing up in order to sell. All that empty shelf-space... Nick couldn’t help but think that he needed to find something else to fill ‘em up with. ...not that he got that much time to think about it, since Judy seemed really adamant about pushing and pulling him into bed, how nice of her.  
  
“Carrots... why you still here? Go home, ’m fine” Nick slurred as he did the flop onto his bed.  
  
He had not expected her to get up on his bed with him and start to strip him – had he puked on himself? Nah, didn’t look or feel like it... was she going to tuck him in too?  
  
Was she going to do that? No, no she was not. She was also undressing and straddling him. Ok, lots of questions. In fact, all of the questions! “Judy, what are yo-“  
  
Judy put a paw on Nick’s lips and said: “Shush... been waiting way too long for this” as she climbed up to kiss Nick.  
  
At this point Nick stopped thinking – not because alcohol or sleepiness, indeed he suddenly found himself not that sleepy.


	3. Beefy Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Lewd warning] - this one gets saucy - but honestly... its more disgusting than sexy if you think about it.

Nick had enjoyed more than his fair share of benders and bar crawls with Finnick in his time – so he knew well enough what the usual morning after symptoms were, assuming that he paced himself, of course. Few knew just how much of a light-weight Nick was, something that he blamed his light build on, but also knew well enough to pace himself when out drinking.

This morning did not feel like that. This morning did not feel like he had paced himself... but, hold on, he’d only had what? Four beers last night? One at the after-hours bar, and three at the club?  
  
...so why did his mouth feel like that time Finnick had shared that bottle really shady moonshine from some ‘buddy’ of his in Sahara Square? Oh he could really use a good drink of water right now. But... he really didn’t feel like moving any inch of his body either. Maybe sleepy a little longer?  
  
Trying to swallow, a not particularly pleasant thing to do with the level of cotton-mouth that Nick was experiencing, Nick became keenly aware of his lips... no, all of his muzzle. It was crusty, like it had been sticky and then had dried... had he tried to eat something before going to bed? Had he puked? Oh please not that... not cleaning off vomit could discolour your fur if you were unlucky enough.  
  
His bedroom was hot – he had clearly forgotten to open a window a bit before going to bed... ya, didn’t feel like there was any bed-sheet over him, which is what he usually slept with. Wait, what’s the weight on his chest then?  
  
Peeking down towards his feet Nick found himself wishing so very much that he had not used the term ‘eat something’ thing a moment earlier: Judy was lying splayed on, on his chest. Her arms were down over his sides, her chin was resting just under his throat, and her legs were out over his. Oh yes, and their fun bits were without a doubt very close to each other.  
  
Perhaps it was him feeling tired due to last night’s drinking, or maybe it was some fun flavour of paralytic terror – but Nick merely found himself thinking: What the hell had happened last night?  
  
It came to him in flashes: glimpses of hot passion, the kind of love you clean up with a mop and bucket, or write dirty song lyrics about for cheeky teenagers. One thing he was sure of: From the way that Judy was resting on him, and from how the two of them seemed to be glued together at the crotch from dried fur stuck together.... oh yes, she had taken the knot, and they fell asleep that way.  
  
Nick couldn’t help but feel impressed that Judy had been able to do that, which led to thoughts of just how sore she had to be – and how funny she’d walk the rest of the weekend...  
  
It all just added to the admiration Nick had for Judy. He knew that she was a lot tougher than your average bunny. Stroking her head made her sleepily grab his paw and hold it like a like a small teddy-bear. She looked so peaceful, so happy.  
  
Ok Nick Piberious Wilde: You have clearly shagged your police partner rotten last night – and you don’t remember how that really got starter, who initiated it... but never having bothered himself that much with what had happened, Nick focused more on the present: What now?  
  
One thing that struck Nick was that he felt a pang of sadness that he couldn’t fully remember last night’s shag – judging from how happy Judy looked then it must have been a really good bout of it. Maybe if she isn’t too freaked out when she wakes up, she might be up for another go? Hustler or not, Nick was still an opportunist at heart.  
  
Well, after breakfast obviously.  
  
Maybe it was his breathing that had changed from waking up, maybe it was his head moving around when he was looking around – but Judy stirred.  
  
Very quickly Nick chose not to say anything to begin with – Judy’s reaction could be anything. He feared that she would just leap up and scream, or get up and shout at him... but those were worst case scenarios.  
Giving Judy a sleepy smile as her blinked a few times, Nick waited for a tense moment before Judy did anything.  
  
She shuffled forward, making Nick exceedingly aware of how their fur was still glued together at the crotch, but when she kissed his nose he found that it was probably all good. Also, her being glued to his crotch meant that her shuffling about ‘stimulated’ him...  
  
Judy’s reaction as Nick’s erection crept forth, lodging itself between the two of them, was simply to jiggle her hips and bury her face in his chest fluff. Whelp, someone was happy.  
  
Now, this wasn’t the first time Nick had woken up in unknown surroundings and found himself required to fly by the seat of his pants, but this was certainly a unique twist on it. Deciding that he better say something before his boner pushed her off him, Nick said: “Had fun last night?”  
  
Letting out a long and heartfelt sigh, Judy looked up from Nick’s chest fluff: “Mmm... yes. Was it good for you?”  
  
“I wish I could say... can’t remember that much from last night, but it looks like we both enjoyed it” Nick casually stated, looking away from Judy to hide the displeasure he now felt from that.  
  
Judy shuffled further up Nick, getting up and sitting on his chest. It took a few uncomfortable tugs to get her crotch-fur free from his, but Judy was a lot stronger than her small frame let on. He couldn’t hide his gaze from her now – especially not after she leant in and buried his nose in her chest while her cottontail tickled the top of his schlong: “Well we’ll just have to do a do-over...”  
  
Muffled by her chest fluff, Nick found himself somewhat reluctant to speak: Opening his mouth to say anything would mean interacting with her breasts... and frankly , then while it was obvious that Judy was very sexually attracted to him, then he just didn’t feel the same – she was a bunny for crying out loud!  
  
“Cat got your tongue?” Judy asked as she smushed her very petite chest around Nick’s snout – it was comical if nothing, but as Nick found himself smiling it quickly became clear that Judy interpreted that as some kind of unspoken go-ahead, for she disengaged her chest and started to shimmy down towards his by now quite erect self.  
  
In his mind, several trains of thought did battle for control of Nick’s line of thinking. On the base level part of him was going “Naked female wants to bang you, yes please”. On a more interpersonal level the thought was “But she’s my friend, and work colleague... what if this gets weird? No it is weird!” and finally a third that simply noted: “She’s not a vixen – she’s not that sexy”  
  
However, that final thought quickly died out as Nick saw Judy’s expression: It was that downright predatory look in her eyes he had seen several times earlier that week – only this time she was looking at him... and she was smiling at the same time. Very few vixens had ever looked at him like that before.  
  
This left the two other lines of thought – and while the first one was quite agreeable, then the last one had added another wagon full of arguments on: “We’ve never really found her sexually attractive, have we? Do you want this?”  
  
It was an almost frightening thought to consider – both in that without his consent she would technically be raping him, but who’d ever believe a fox saying that a bunny raped him? And secondly it, then it was weird because it required that he entertain the possibility that he might actually like her as more than a friend and a colleague.  
  
Damn those mirror brain thingies. Go away.  
  
Quickly reaching up and halting Judy before she could position herself for a ‘second round’, Nick urged: “How about breakfast first? Maybe a shower? Coffee? Coffee sounds great”  
  
Judy’s face cycled through several expressions fairly quickly, going from lusty to disappointed to agreeable: “Alright, dips on the shower”  
  
Nick couldn’t help but look transfixed at the cottontail’s butt as she bounced off – apparently she already knew where his bathroom was. Alright, that thing about sexual attraction? Ya that wasn’t a problem anymore, especially not after having felt her delightfully soft fur against his boner. Also dat ass.  
  
Good gods Finnick was going to rib him for this so much. Oh well, better make it count then.  
  
Staggering out into his kitchen, Nick rummaged through his cupboards in search of something to eat. There we go, the box of puffed locusts – and... out of milk. Of course: “Great... what else I’ve got left?”  
  
Judy emerged from her quick shower wreathed in towers two sizes too big for herself, appearing as if cloaked in swaths of grey and brown towel fabric to the smell of coffee and the sizzle of something on a pan: “Oh, what’s for breakfast? Oh coffee”  
  
Standing at the stove, Nick focused on the hot skillet her was jiggling around: “I have eggs, onions and puffed locusts – that’s enough for me, but we...”  
  
Nick was about to suggest that they did a quick breakfast run for some greens for Judy, when he heard a crunching sound. Leaving the skillet be on the stove, Nick spun around to see Judy sitting at the corner kitchen-table, munching away with one paw in the puffed locust cereal packet. Her mouth was full. Her cheeks bulging. She was chewing.  
  
“Ok who are you and where is the cute loveable bunny I know?” Nick quickly fired off, officially freaked the fuck out.  
  
Judy finished chewing, swallowed, then put the cereal box down and wagged a digit at Nick while still holding a paw-full of locusts: “I’m the badass bunny cop who rode you like a bronco last night”  
  
Having already come to terms with what they had done last night, then Judy’s bold statement didn’t really phase him. It was her eating predator food that was freaking him out: “But you’re eating...”  
  
Judy looked down at her paw-full of puffed locusts. Quickly stuffing the puffed locusts into her mouth, she said: “You can’ prooh ‘nything – ate the ‘vidence”  
  
Turning off the stove, Nick sat down at the small corner kitchen-table next to Judy and nursed his cup of coffee: “Judy... how can you eat that?”  
  
Looking over at the stove, Judy swallowed and chuckled: “You’ve seen me eat omelettes”  
  
Nick blinked for a few seconds, his mind idling as it tried and failed to see what Judy was talking about.  
  
“Ok, the donuts that Clawhauser keeps us stocked with at the precinct, you do remember them, right?” Judy asked, trying with a different approach.  
  
Nodding, Nick relaxed a bit and sipped his coffee as he listened.  
  
“The crème filling that Francine loves? The glazing? That’s all made with eggs” Judy said, waiting for Nick’s penny to drop.  
  
The look on the fox tod’s face slowly began to twist into a mixed look of shock, not horror, but also confusion.  
  
As Nick’s world crumbled around him, Judy continued: “Plus, tons of prey mammals are omnivores to begin with. Have you seen what pigs and goats can eat? Do you have any idea how many blueberries my parents sell to bears?”  
  
“Where do you even know this from?” Nick asked, sounding as if he was pleading for mercy from this onslaught of mind-shattering information.  
  
Judy shot Nick a rather unimpressed grin: “Took a course in mammal dietary something-something, ZPD HR offers it – I figured it would handy when poking around very mono-species neighbourhoods”  
  
It really didn’t surprise Nick that Judy had taken such a course, but still... bunnies eating meat?  
  
“Nick, two years ago you didn’t think a bunny could be a cop, or that you could be anything but a street hustler. None of us thought that sheep could mastermind a plot to take over the city. Nobody thought that a fox could become a cop. What was it that you told me that you had learned on your first day on the job?” Judy stated firmly, her eyes drilling into Nicks.  
  
Swallowing back a sip of coffee, Nick at first felt a bit trapped – but as Judy’s point dawned on him, he relaxed bit: “Ok carrots, you got me there. I certainly wouldn’t have believed that a bunny could ever want to sleep with a fox... I guess I still have plenty of things to learn”  
  
“We both do. I was so afraid of you turning me down that I felt I had to drink you under the table before I made my move” Judy said, relaxing her stance and looking down into her coffee cup, sounding rather sorry.  
  
Pausing for a moment, Nick again tried to recall exactly what he had imbibed the night before. He still only counted four beers: “But... you couldn’t have – I only had four beers. Did you spike them with something?”  
  
Judy looked hurt at the accusation, but her smirk also betrayed her amusement over the fact that Nick clearly hadn’t figured that part out yet: “Nick, the oatmeal stout I got you at the club, it was twelve percent”  
  
Blinking for a moment, then rubbing his temples, Nick quizzically asked: “Like twelve proof?”  
  
“No, percent alcohol by volume – like strong wine” Judy noted, her tail twitching in bemused anticipation to Nick’s reaction.  
  
It shouldn’t have impressed him. It really shouldn’t have made her seem even more attractive. It did both: “You hustled me”  
  
“After a fashion – now, come here” Judy said, leading Nick back to the bedroom. Nick was still too hungover to really protest, so all he could really manage to focus on was checking again that he had turned off the stove in passing.


	4. The Bellwether Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta get that collar mention in. Also poop jokes.

It was a few weeks later, and things had settled down somewhat – indeed the new equilibrium wasn’t that bad, though it did get weird from time to time, namely Nick and Judy’s new relationship status... if it could even be called as much: They hadn’t really done anything together since the night in the club and the Saturday after that where they had... well... fucked like rabbits. It had not gotten weird, as much as whatever they had developed that Saturday had just sort of petered out.

They had both agreed to keep things strictly professional while on the job – a necessity since fraternization between partners simply wasn’t allowed. On some level Nick feared that it was actually that professionalism which had rendered Judy distant, since they only really saw each other while at work – and she was always quick to scamper off once clocked out.

Personally he wouldn’t mind doing stuff together, but things just kept coming up – conflicting schedules, her occasional weekend visits to Bunnyburrow, or other reasons why they couldn’t really seem to simply set up a date. It seemed silly, but maybe it had just been a one-night thing? Then again it mostly seemed to be things on Judy’s end that kept her too busy or tired to do things with him.

Was it a bit disappointing? Yes, yes it was – but at the same time Nick was certain that Judy was still both interested and willing, for the two had developed a propensity for increasingly off-color jokes while driving around on patrol, most of them being thinly veiled metaphors for what they would like to do to each other. Also she had taken up eating his brand of puffed locust breakfast cereal as a snack in the cruiser – they looked enough like peanuts at a distance that nobody had noticed yet.

As for work, then since the initial cases, more and more cases of “not-savage” savage mammals had begun to turn up, most of them quite peaceful – and all of them in nice neighbourhoods. The mammals under the influence only got aggressive if threatened, cornered or otherwise stressed. Only a few of the incidents lead to arrests, mostly for public indecency as the not-savage mammals really seemed to like to go naked or lick themselves in public – and to make matters even more annoying, then none of them ever talked. Consensus at precinct one was that whoever was supplying the drug had started to instruct the drug users betters.

Nick & Judy was put on “Not savage” patrol in addition to their usual duties, at the request of city hall. Neither of them objected to this – plus the logic from Bogo’s end was that they were the two smallest and least intimidating cops on the force, making the “not-savage” mammals far less likely to attack before they could get tranquilized and given the antidote. So far there hadn’t been any big headlines about new savage mammals, and city hall was very happy about that. Conversely then legislation to render this new nighthowler-derived drug illegal was taking its time, mainly because the medical testing of the pills hadn’t wrapped up yet – and you couldn’t make something illegal unless you actually knew what it was, and knew exactly what it did.

It was late afternoon on a Wednesday. Nick and Judy had just driven from Sahara Square into the downtown district when Judy felt something moving – or something that wanted to move. A bowel motion one might say.

Nick, helming the spiffy police cruiser gps, replete with the locations of every public service and utility in the city – not just private addresses like in civilian gps devices – found the nearest public restroom.

Judy parked and very quickly made her way inside the unisex bathroom, occupying a stall scaled for mammals her size. Nick followed suit into the restroom in a more leisurely manner, radioing dispatch that they were taking a break.

“Hey Carrots, you ok in there?” Nick asked, the sound of strained grunts and grim noises of determination from the stall with the two rabbit feet.

Judy didn’t reply, simply grunting on.

“It’s been almost two weeks now... you’d think your gut would have gotten used to snacking on that bugsy cereal at this point – I can’t exactly introduce you up to any of the really good stuff before you can handle basic meat protein” Nick noted, his voice betraying a concern for Judy’s well-being, thinly veiled in good-natured snark.

Again Judy didn’t reply, though there a few faint ‘plops’ into water, followed by more strained grunting.

“Didn’t you start on prune juice or something? Stool softener? How do you even know that you’re going to get used to eating meat? Maybe we should try anal, see if that loosens you up” Nick joked.

The heaving paused for a moment. Nick perked an eyebrow and stifled a giggle.

“My mother. She would get pregnancy cravings, chocolate coated bug-crunch bars, stuff like your cereal. Veggies are good for a lot of things, but when you’re pregnant you sometimes just need a lot of protein, no matter how it makes you feel... and last time I helped get her stuff like that her gut got used to in just about three days – and with the size of what I’m passing you wouldn’t have much fun doing that to me, I’d need an elephant lover for him to feel anything” Judy stated, through gritted teeth.

The two shared a chuckle, but Nick could also tell that it bothered her that she hadn’t done as well as her mother – though he quickly puzzled out why: “Judy, how many times has your mother done that? You’ve told me that you have over two-hundred siblings – could it be that in the beginning it took her weeks as well? After dozens of pregnancies and snacking on chocolate bug-bars her gut takes less and less time to get used to it?”

A penny dropped. A heinous sphincter-shredding boulder of brimstone and white hot magma (Well it felt that way) also dropped, though that one made a much more audible splash than the other.

“You ok? Need a plunger? A young priest and an old priest? A public notary with a blank will?” Nick inquired humorously, pondering what he should joke about next time they had to make for a bathroom break for Judy’s bothersome bowels.

After a minute or so Judy staggered out, her gait a lot more bowlegged than normal: “We need to make a little detour to somewhere I can get some proper laxatives”

It wasn’t difficult finding a place nearby place that sold such things. A nearby herbal health-food and supplement shop called “Spices of Love” did the trick just fine. Judy was in and out in less than forty seconds while Nick waited in the cruiser.

Still, that was just enough time for Clawhauser to radio in a very interesting bit of news.

As Judy returned, Nick filled her in: “Carrots, get this – Clawhauser just got the report back on the pills!”

Nick couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter as he saw Judy struggle not to just lunge over and kiss him – she had that look in her eyes, and her fidgeting with her paws was the exact same as the Saturday morning when they had gone back to his bedroom for more sex. Elated, Judy put the package of Satan brand: DoomLax (“Purges you/shit out your inner demons”) away and raced to precinct one.

The report turned out to be a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo, but it did confirm a few suspicions: The stuff in the pills was definitely some kind of nighthowler product, but the CSI lab or the consultants that had helped on the work couldn’t determine what the difference was, since the nighthowler material had been processed too much and there simply wasn’t enough to work with in the few pills they had gotten.

The report also stated that this new nighthowler drug didn’t work simply via skin-contact: It had to be ingested, though at that point it would work just almost fast as the original stuff.

“What about aggression? Did they confirm that it doesn’t make you into a hostile savage mammal?” Judy asked with some trepidation. She and Nick had dealt with enough of these drug-users to have seen the pattern – but independent confirmation was always good.

Bogo, sitting at his big desk and looking through the report, flipped through a few pages skimmed some text, then nodded: “It seems so. Well that confirms it: This stuff is less harmful than alcohol – though the researchers also confirmed the same kind of memory loss that the mammals who went savage had – none of them could remember what had happened while under the influence after they were pulled out of it with the cure”

There was a pregnant pause, with Bogo looking at Nick.

Nick didn’t catch that Bogo had expected Nick to come up with a pun to what Bogo had said: Nick had been focusing on how this would disappoint Judy – that this knock-off nighthowler stuff was nothing to really worry about, but to his surprise then she didn’t seem all that upset over having her supposed fears over the harmlessness of this new drug confirmed by the lab report.

Pondering for a moment, Judy noted: “It’s still spreading panic through the city. Mammals everywhere are still scared by the idea of savage mammals showing up – and this really isn’t helping”

Bogo put the report down: “Agreed, that’s why with this report city hall has finally issued official guidelines for how we’re to deal with this stuff: All mammals arrested under the influence of this drug are to be charged with public intoxication and aggravated disturbance of the peace, at until city hall can finalize the laws to actually make possession and use of this drug officially illegal”

“But sir, none of those offenses give you anything more than a fine. These mammals are either being tricked or voluntarily taking drugs to become savage – can’t we do more?” Judy pleaded, giving voice to a frustration that everyone in earshot appeared to be feeling at the moment.

Bogo remained silent for a moment, before looking at Judy with half-closed eyes and a heavy heart: “As frightening as what they’re doing is, then until it starts harming innocent mammals, our hooves are tied – if we can’t just start putting mammals in prison for doing things we don’t like, no matter how satisfying it might feel”

“So much for my idea of getting city hall to set up of a taskforce for crimes against fashion” Nick jokingly remarked.

There were a few other details in the report, but nothing major or useful. Still, Bogo wanted to know who was making this drug and wanted it stopped, so Nick and Judy was still on the case.

In the end there was one final detail of relevance: City Hall had decreed, in the case that the report concluded that the drug was ‘harmless enough’ that the mammals under its influence weren’t to be called savage mammals anymore: The new term was ‘feral’ – Savage as a term simply had too much bad baggage and didn’t fit how these new drug-users behaved.

“Well, the only ones we know who made the drug was Bellwether – but we put her away” Nick noted as he and Judy left Bogo’s office.

Judy shrugged: “That’s not entirely true – we never caught the three rams we saw at the drug lab. They were long gone when police came to investigate the train-wreck we left behind before going into the natural history museum”

Nick gave Judy a pensive but sneaky look“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” look. Judy nodded and added: “Bellwether didn’t say a word after she was caught, so it is possible...”

“I’m thinking we go ask her if she has any idea where her old partners in crime are – I’m sure she’ll do anything for a reduced sentence, maybe by giving up her old cronies” Nick suggested with a sly grin.

It didn’t take much to talk Bogo into approving the prison visit. What did take a little more was setting up the visit itself from a purely practical point of view: apparently one does not simply walk into a high security women’s prison.

The biggest wait was for the boat. Namely the weekly supply boat that went out to the prison island off the mainland. There were no helicopters or similar aerial connections to the island prison – for good reason too.

A few days later around five in the morning – just as a sleepy sun crept over the horizon, at the Zootopia Coast Guard dock and headquarters in the incredibly originally named Docks district, Nick and Judy stood ready for the small cargo ship going out to Stonetusk Prison. Judy looked fit for fight, not eager to face Bellwether, but determined to get to the bottom of this new drug. Nick looked... fidgety – plus he was “I need three cups of coffee” sleepy.

“You ok Nick?” Judy asked, her voice replete with care, both for her professional partner and her romantic interest.

Sighing and yawning at the same time, Nick peered out over the incredibly originally named Lake Zootopia and the Wethoof River that connected out to the ocean: “I’m just worried about the trip – don’t like it”

“You think you’ll get sea-sick? I read some pamphlets on that – you just have to keep looking at land, and we won’t be going so far out that you won’t be able to see the mainland” Judy reassured Nick in a comforting, putting a friendly paw on Nick’s sleeve.

Crouching down to look Judy in the eyes, Nick shook his head as he took Judy’s paws into his: “We’re going to a maximum security prison for female mammals. I’ll likely be the first male of any kind that most of the inmates will have seen in years... I’ve heard of riots starting for less”

“Oh you think they won’t be able to withstand your manly musk? Judy joked, giving the fox a cheerful if not highly suggestive grin aimed at his crotch.

Nick didn’t really express much amusement. How could this bunny be so energized this early in the morning? Dark heresy, and sorcery most foul was clearly at play.

“Really? You’re seriously worried about being snatched up and man-handled?” Judy asked, her tone neutral this time.

Before Nick could point out that currently Zootopia’s statutes on rape specifically worded the laws so that only male mammals could be procecuted for raping female mammals, one of the coast guard officers on the ship gestured for the two to come aboard. On the gangway Nick noted: “I just figured you wouldn’t be much for sharing – but hey, I’m sure they have things under control. Stonetusk does allow for visitors, so husbands and whatnot probably come out there all the time”

Signing in on the ship’s log, then moving to the ‘passenger lounge’ – a small area with three wolf-sized chairs and a wall-mounted coffee machine with paper cups – Judy let out a chuckle: “Oh so you’re just worried about what I would think? How thoughtful of you”

The trip down-river to the ocean was as uneventful as it was boring, albeit with pretty scenery: The endless farmlands of the furthest northern fringes of Bunnyburrow on one side, and a mix of mountainous forests and valleys on the other side, which towards the coast evened out into rolling hills. There was a good deal of shipping passing them, going back to Zootopia, while they overtook several enormous cargo ships heading out to sea.

Once they got out into the ocean the sea got a good deal rougher – and Judy, who had apparently never actually been on a boat before, got sea-sick so fast Nick didn’t even have time to say something snarky or witty before she was puking over the side of the ship.

“You going to be ok carrots?” Nick asked, knowing full well that Judy would be, even if she didn’t feel very good at that moment.

Judy shot Nick a dirty look strong enough to make take a step back: “Not funny”

“I wasn’t trying to be” Nick said officiously and honestly, in an overly pious tone. It took no small amount of effort from him not to crack a smile.

Stepping away from the railings, Judy steadied herself against Nick and wiped her mouth with a napkin. Grumbling, she said: “Let’s just hope we can get lunch while there – and that they don’t serve fish while at it”

“Why not fish? Would make sense if they sourced some local fish to feed their predator inmates” Nick inquired, noting that in Zootopia fish accounted for almost a third of the meat consumed.

Judy did not appear impressed: “Oh please. Fish is just smelly and doesn’t taste of anything – the fact that anyone likes to eat that kind of stuff... ugh”

“I’m going to have to question what you base that on – because my personal anecdotes on fish contradict your personal anecdotes on fish – plus it’s the softest and easiest to eat meat, so what’s not to love?” Nick teased, sounding as if he had watched just a little too much Paw and Order recently.

The expression on Judy’s face, her ever so slightly green pallor, and the brief derisive snort she made, all very clearly communicated that she wasn’t much for talking about fish, but she did relent: “I know. It’s just that back home in Bunnyburrow ma and pa tried to get all of us to eat fish or fish oil at least once a year – they saw some presentation about nutrition at the community hall when I was five or something. Problem was just that the only fish that comes out to Bunnyburrow comes in a busted old converted ice-cream truck and it always smelled really bad and tasted just the same”

“Oh that’s just not fair – I seriously need to haul you off to one of the good sushi places in the canal district. You simply have to try good fresh fish at least once in your life, assuming that you’re serious about going full omnivore” Nick stated encouragingly, his mind wandering off to downright decadently tasty memories of running sushi nights with Finnick and various lusty females in times of yore.

Forcing herself to smile, Judy looked up at Nick: “Hey it’s not my fault that fish repulses me as much as the thought of some hippo convict grabbing you and sitting on your face does to you”

Nick was brutally pulled out of his thinking of delicious fish by Judy’s comment, so much so that he had to choke back his surprise and cough a bit: “Damn Carrots, that’s harsh... and honestly I suspect that neither of us wants to see that happen to me”

“True – I don’t want to have to share you” Judy commented before catching herself in what she had said, and looking around to see if anyone else was in earshot. There wasn’t.

Nick felt his heart flutter – but that was interrupted as the ship’s PA system blared out a message that they were approaching Stonetusk island.

Walking to the other side of the ship, the island with its jagged rocks along its shoreline was surprisingly close – and the prison, with its dark concrete walls, stood in grim relief to the blue sky and crashing waves around the island. It looked quite large, seemingly covering most of the island, or at least its outer walls did.

Disembarking and going through the security check-in, Nick and Judy deposited everything they didn’t need while inside the prison: Wallets, phones, keys, that sort of stuff. Their tranq guns and tasers stayed, but only after a security officer confirmed that their weapons had working palm-locks. They were also issued a tracking device in the form of a smooth little plastic gizmo with a blinking red LED that they were told to swallow.

“Do you want this back after it comes out the other end?” Nick wondered after swallowing his.

The female horse security officer shrugged: “Nah, don’t you worry about it, they’re dirt cheap – plus they turn off once you leave here again”

At the exit from the security check-in to the no-mammal land between the dock and the prison complex, an automated PA sounded off a rather ominous message: “To all prison visitors and personnel: In the event of you being taken hostage there will not be negotiated for your release. All inmates wear collars with tracking devices and electrodes. In the case of an incident all inmates near you will automatically be neutralized”

“Well that sounds lovely” Nick quipped, him suddenly feeling exceedingly happy that during his career as a street hustler he never got into any kind of trouble that ever landed him in a place like Stonetusk.

Judy remained silent, having far less sympathy for the inmates of the place: She was fairly certain that she had sent at least three or four mammals there – and none of them deserved any kind of pity.

Once through the main gate it instantly became clear that the prison was a bit different than expected: Inside the walls were miles of farmland – and hundreds of convicts freely working the dirt, pulling weeds and tending to the rows upon rows of things they were growing. Carrots, various kinds of beets, cabbages, radishes – there was a little of everything growing inside the prison walls apparently.

“Wow... they grow their own food – cool” Judy said, as they walked down the chain-link fenced corridor from the gate to the central prison complex.

Nick nodded, not really surprised by the revelation – and he really didn’t like the looks he was already getting from many of the ladies on the other side of the chain-link fence – hungry looks; Whipping out his shades and putting on a frowny look, Nick simply nodded to Judy’s observation.

At the prison complex the two were met by the warden, a greying female yak – though unlike the lanky mop-haired yak the two knew from the Mystic Springs Oasis, then this lady was wearing a sharp suit and had her hair trimmed short into something akin to a military crew cut. Also she was fat enough to make most hippos look skinny.

She had the kind of hard look as if she was a mammal who ate nails and shat rebar.

“Welcome to Stonetusk Super Max, I’m Warden Amanda Whaler - we rarely get celebrity visitors, even less so ones not in chains” the yak remarked, her voice hoarse and worn.

Judy nodded: “Thank you maam, we’re just here investigating a case – I hope you were told who wanted to talk to?”

The warden nodded: “She is being made ready. The visitor centre is just through the door here and to the right, if you will follow me”

Following the warden inside, Judy noticed that every guard, janitor and other mammal working in the prison that she could see was female: “Excuse me Warden Whaler? Is there a reason why all your employees here are female?”

The warden didn’t answer – not directly – instead she pulled out a smartphone and pushed a button on it. The warden’s voice rang out from the small device: “This is a prison for female inmates only. Most of them will never leave this place alive. It would be too easy for male employees to either take advantage of, or be taken advantage of, in such a situation, which in turn tends to lead to all kinds of fun corruption investigations, escape attempts, riots, love triangles, shower shankings and so on. Thus, no males are allowed to work here inside the prison walls”

“I get the impression that you’re asked that a lot?” Nick noted, the warden simply nodding as she put the phone back into a pocket.

Entering the visitor’s centre the warden led the two officers past heavy steel doors to rooms from some of which one could hear either loud sobbing, or in others exceedingly carnal cries of passion, to what looked a lot like a precinct one interrogation room: A big one-way window, a metal table bolted to the floor, and two chairs that weren’t bolted to the floor, but bolted to a piston that went into the floor so the height could be adjusted. The piston was probably bolted to the floor somewhere.

Nick and Judy were set up on the other side of the one-way window, while Bellwether was brought in. She looked... worn, plus she had been shorn within the last month or so, though she didn’t look as skinny as she once had: She had clearly been working out in the prison gym, or out in the fields.

“I told you assholes I don’t want to talk to any visitors! I’ve had enough dealings with those cry-babies from back in the city!” The eve snapped at the prison guard that pulled her into the room.

The guard, a wolf twice Bellwether’s size, didn’t take any guff and simply lifted the eve up and sat her down on the steel chair.

The warden having left to resume her work, Nick and Judy looked at Bellwether and then each other.

“She looks like she’d having fun here” Nick chided, his shades obscuring most of his frown.

Judy didn’t exactly feel much pity for the eve either, but this was work: “She’s not here to have fun – and neither are we. Do you want to talk to her or should I?”

“She liked you, didn’t she? I think you’ll have a better shot at her – I’ll join in if I think it’s necessary, but seeing me as an officer now will probably just piss her off” Nick noted, knowing full well that when it came to talking someone who didn’t like you into giving you information then you really shouldn’t make things worse.

As Judy entered the ‘visitor room’, Bellwether let out an exasperated sigh: “Oh great... you! Just kill me now...”

Nick paid close attention. He knew that Judy’s hustle game wasn’t quite up to his level, or so was his suspicion anyway – but he had never seen her do an interrogation like this. He knew that Bellwether could simply clam up and stonewall Judy out of spite – so she had to be appeased somehow...

“Hey now, I’m not here to make things worse for you – quite the contrary” Judy said, her tone professional, cheerful, cordial and direct. Nick could hardly even tell that her smile was forced, even though he knew it was.

Bellwether slumped back into her chair and made a derisive gesture towards Judy: “Right – I’m here forty years until I can even start to ask for parole, and enough of the inmates here have used my wool to wipe themselves that most of them call me Smellwether – I’m sure you’re here to make things easier for me”

The comment about the inmates using Bellwether as living toilet-paper took Judy aback, but she maintained her composure: “Actually, I was thinking about giving you a chance to exert a bit of power”

That got Nick’s attention, as well as Bellwether’s. In fact, her face lit up like a lamb at Christmas: “Go on”

“We know that the three rams who worked for you at the nighthowler lab were never caught. The cook and his two goons” Judy began. Bellwether looked all ears.

“We believe they have resurfaced. Mammals all over Zootopia are turning up high as a kite on some kind of watered down nighthowler pills” The bunny explained.

“So?” Bellwether quickly commented – appearing to lose interest.

Judy, her paws folded and her posture quite friendly - concerned even, explained: “ They’re turning a profit from what you helped them set up”

Bellwether’s expression was in a word pensive. Both Nick and Judy could see that the eve was trying to figure out what to say, and possibly also try to discern what Judy’s game-plan was.

“Those three? It’s been what? Two years... how do you expect me to know where they are? You busted up their old lab – I have no idea where those idiots are hiding” Bellwether said in an angry tone.

At first Nick was a bit surprised at the eve’s response – but then he noticed a bulletin on the side of the wall, next to the one-way window. It read: “All prisoners who cooperate with ongoing investigations are rewarded with transfers to better cells, a wider choice of in-prison job placements and priority when booking recreational equipment. All prisoners know this, so claims to the contrary means they’re lying”

Nicks’ first thought was that the note was a bit odd, but underneath someone had scrawled: “While snitches might get stitches, then everyone loves a cell with a built in television”

Bellwether’s reaction suddenly made a lot more sense: She knew the kind of rewards she could get if she helped Judy out – but if she didn’t actually have any good information to give... Had Judy read the bulletin?

In the interrogation room Judy’s smile had turned sour: “Well then, if you don’t have anything I can use I guess I’ll be leaving – enjoy your forty years as a butt-fluffer”

What little hope there had been in Bellwether’s eyes faded as Judy got up and made for the door.

“Please, wait – Let me think. You say they’ve made a new kind of drug? Are you sure its related to the nighthowler plant?” Bellwether pleaded.

Judy turned around, her arms crossed and her face stern: “The lab reports are sure. You don’t go savage, and it seems popular with well-off mammals, so whoever is selling it is making bank – you can get a lot of pizza and hookers for that kind of money”

Nick chuckled. So that was Judy’s game: Get Bellwether angry over her own impotence compared to her former minions. It sure seemed to be working.

The eve looked perplexed, her hoofed hands rubbing her temples. Speaking hastily she mused: “That’s not possible. We only made that one strain for the pellets – unless...”

Bingo – time for the payoff. Nick whipped out his notepad and pen, ready to take notes.

Judy approached the table and sat down again: “Go on”

“I don’t know where they are – but if you’re looking for a new kind of nighthowler drug, then I think I can tell where they have been... I mean, us little mammals, we have to help each other out right?” Bellwether said after taking a deep breath and composing herself. Her demeanour had changed from panicky to bloodcurdlingly sinister, making Judy’s toes curl.


	5. Too Cool For School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am a carnist bloodmouth, my belly is a grave-yard. Only the flesh of the living can sate my hunger.

After lunch at the Stonetusk prison staff cafeteria, Nick and Judy returned to the ship leaving for the mainland. Once they had waited for the ship to fully unload and gotten underway it simply became a waiting game to see when the bars on their phones would start to reappear.

Once the small cargo ship got close enough to the coast that the phone signal got strong enough to work again, Judy eagerly called Bogo:

“Sir, we have a lead – a good one! Bellwether said that her cook had a secret lab at Zootopia University’s biology department. If we can find that we might find out the exact nature of the new nighthowler drug, it might tell us where... yes, set up a meeting and some warrants, we’ll swing by to get the warrants and be there first thing in the morning” Judy said, barely able to contain her excitement.

Enjoying Judy’s good mood, Nick wondered exactly what kind of secrets they might find there. Bellwether had been quite clear: She had set up her sniper/cook under a false identity at ZU and gotten him the tools there to create and master the pellet making process – as well as develop a strain of nighthowlers that grew quickly and well under artificial lighting. Apparently normal nighthowlers grew too slowly for pellet mass production, at least if all you had were a few hydroponics beds...

As the ship pulled into the Zootopia Coast Guard docks, Nick and Judy pondered why Bellwether had kept this part of her operation secret.

“Well, ratting out the rest of her accomplices while her trial was going probably wouldn’t have earned her any favors once she got into prison” Nick remarked, figuring that it was part of some long game gambit.

Judy, her paws clenching the ship railings with an iron grib in an attempt to stave off her by now fading feelings of sea-sickness: “Could be. She wasn’t going to get much reduction in her sentence no matter what she did”

“Maybe she held on to it in hopes that they would bust her out?” Nick posited, wondering how well an attack with nighthowlers could help in a prison break.

Shaking her head, Judy shook off a nose twitch before she said: “Does it really matter? I mean, we did ask her why she hadn’t told anyone earlier... and she clammed up the moment we asked”

The two agreed that Bellwether was probably holding out on giving out anything else until she needed to earn more brownie points with the warden, or improve her shot at early parole. It certainly fit her calculating nature.

As the ship docked and Judy loudly proclaimed her love of solid ground upon disembarking, Nick checked the time: “Hey carrots – it’s not even three yet, did Bogo say anything about us going on patrol until five?”

Judy spun around, joyous to feel solid ground under her paws: “No, the warrants for ZU won’t be ready until tomorrow morning – we’re off duty”

Nodding, Nick thought for a moment about how to get home from the dock district: “Say Carrots, you want to hang and do something? We don’t usually get a free afternoon like this”

Smiling up at Nick, Judy gave the fox a brief but diserning glare: “Sure, why not – but I think I got some sick on my uniform on our way out to the prison. I need to get that cleaned. How about I swing by your place at six with some take-out and we watch a movie? You do have a TV right?”

“I do – and a nice movie collection. You prefer rom-coms or comedies?” Nick asked, trying to pin down what he figured was Judy’s preferred movie genre.

“Any kind of hard R action flick, a funny – Deadmule, that sort” Judy quickly stated, bouncing off while looking up stain removal on her phone. Nick wanted to say that he was surprised in Judy’s movie preference, but... no that fit her quite well.

Spending the afternoon relaxing and tidying up at home, Nick awaited Judy’s arrival with baited breath. Five minutes to six, sharp, Nick heard the door buzzer from the door down to the street. Pushing the button to let Judy in, followed by the exceedingly faint sound of fuzzy bunny paws on the steps going up to his floor.

Standing in the doorway, Nick greeted Judy in his usual civilian getup of a floral shirt and shorts, welcoming her inside.

Looking around inside Nick’s apartment, Judy found that her memories of the place really didn’t add up with how she had remembered it during her last visit, though this time she wasn’t hung over: “Hey, what’s with all the empty shelves”

Oh right, most of Nick’s apartment was apparently made up of empty shelves – and he had never really explained why to her.

“Ok I don’t remember you having those” Judy said cautiously as she stepped inside, handing Nick the bags of take-out food.

Taking a sniff inside each of the bags, Nick nodded: “Nice, curry noodles – love this stuff. The shelves? They’ve been there for years – you were just too either too drunk or too hung over to remember any of them last time you were here”

Pondering Nick’s claim for a moment, Judy replied: “Maybe – maybe I was too busy with something”

In truth she really couldn’t remember all that much from that time, not even the Saturday morning where they shagged again... but why admit that?

Unpacking the food in the kitchen, Nick marvelled at just how much grub Judy had bought for them: “Did you invite someone else? This is a lot for just two”

“I was hungry when I ordered – now where are your plates?” Judy said in passing, as she began to open and close every kitchen cabinet Nick had.

As part of their police training both Nick and Judy had gotten basic training in criminal profiling. Observing the content, layout and apparent use of a suspect’s kitchen was a big part of this: Like what kind of food does the suspect stock? How many usually ate there? Was there any stuff specifically for kids, elderly or mammals with special dietary needs?

Nick apparently only had cereal, milk and ketchup at the moment.

The layout part covered what kind of decorations that was in place, what kind cutlery, plates and whatnot was stocked. Was it expensive designer cookware, or... as Nick apparently had, cheap second-hand no-name brand crap. And there wasn’t a single decoration around: Nothing on the fridge, no photos, nothing.

Finally there was how things were apparently used. This was mainly to tell how long a suspect had been living there, and what exactly the place was used for. A recently bleached kitchen-table might be from an attempt to clean up blood for example. In Nick’s case only the oven appeared to have any kind of stains or signs of wear in his oven, and around the kitchen sink.

“Nick...”

“Yes carrots?”

Judy turned around and give Nick a piercing gaze, her paws at her hips: “I know you’ve lived here for years – I ran your social security records the day after we first met... but... it barely looks as if you live here”

“Like I said, I used most of the shelf space as storage” Nick casually remarked as he retrieved plates and chop sticks from a cupboard above the apparently never used stove.

Not satisfied with such a cop-out answer, Judy pressed Nick for more information while she picked out a knife and a fork for herself, not knowing how to use chop-sticks: “Nick, you know what I mean – this whole place... it looks like it was emptied out by thieves!”

“Hey now, I didn’t sell anything off to mammals like that” Nick protested.

Sold off? What? Judy looked confused as Nick handed her a plate with her noodles: “Wait, sold off?”

Sighing as he took his plate and gestured for Judy to follow him into a room that definitely wasn’t the living room – instead it had what looked like three large freezers standing in the room quietly.

“Do you remember about two or three months ago, just before my graduation from the academy, right after my exams, when I told you that I didn’t have time to have any chats on muzzle-time that weekend?” Nick inquired, poking at his curry noodles with his chop sticks.

Judy alternated her gaze between her chopsticks and the freezers: “I think so... what does that have to do with anything?”

It apparently had everything to do with things: As Nick guided Judy towards the living room and powered up the TV-projector and pulled down the roll-down view screen for it, he explained that it was that weekend he had held a firesale of all his hustling goods: “Thus I have nothing but empty shelves left. I only kept the freezers and food”

“You hustled food?” Judy said in disbelief, her mouth half-full of noodles while holding a single chopstick in each paw as if knitting her noodles into a juicy sweater.

Nick smiled at Judy’s apparent ignorance of knowledge on how to use chopsticks and motioned for her to let him help her with that. As he repositioned the chopstick in her right paw to be held like a pen, then sneaking the other chopstick in under that he explained: “It was Finnicks idea originally. There’s a Zootopia bylaw demanding that all grocery stores and food vendors not simply trash food that reaches expiration date or that’s otherwise deemed unsellable, like if it’s damaged or something. We set up a charity to take in that kind of food to redistribute it among the poor and homeless”

It went without saying that Nick and Finnick kept most of that food, though as Judy reasoned then the two had probably both qualified as poor... and maybe even homeless when they had come up with that idea? She didn’t ask about the homeless thing.

“And that’s how I have enough frozen pizzas to last me another six months in those freezers – only need to buy breakfast and ketchup” Nick boasted, sounding oddly proud of his pizza hustle.

Understanding why Nick didn’t use anything but his oven and had all those empty shelves, but not quite how to use her chopsticks, Judy smiled up at the fox sitting next to her in the worn but well-maintained couch: “Will you ever cease to amaze me?”

Nick shrugged while giving her a sly grin and a quick kiss on the nose: “Never”

Her ears shot up in surprise from the kiss, Judy averting her eyes from Nicks in embarrassment: “Oh Nick, you shouldn’t...”

“I shouldn’t? No, I should – more often too if you’re going to be this cute every time I do it” Nick noted and started the movie before Judy could start to complain about him calling her cute.

About one and a half hours of Deadpoodle later, Nick and Judy were engrossed in a surprisingly geeky discussion of whether Captain Eagleland or Ironmole was the coolest superhero. Well, not really: They were browsing the dvd extras on the Deadpoodle disc which included some humorous meta-commentary from some of the actors, the director and the writer – and they were commenting on that.

“I think I’m happy that I never got into comics... it looks like you’d have to read a whole library of them to catch up on everything” Judy lamented, openly displaying her disappointment. It wasn’t that she didn’t like to read up on and understand new things – she did that all the time with new police protocols and regulations – but with all these myriad comic timelines and reboots, then it just seems impossible to even find a place to start with.

Nick shrugged: “I get you – I mean, I’ve dabbled a little bit in comics, but that was mainly in farting around yard sales and trying to pick up people’s old collections cheap so I could resell them – I found a couple of rare ones that way, made a lot of money selling those”

“You make it sound as if all you’re some kind of gazellionaire from all your hustle money” Judy said with a yawn at the end, stretching out after having sat still just a tad too long for the movie.

Nick eased himself a bit further down on the couch, to put his head around the same height as Judy’s, allowing him to catch her outstretched arm on his shoulder: “Not enough to work up any kind of pension – there were plenty lean times... can’t sell pawpsicles to those lemmings on weekends, in the winter, not even in Sahara Square, and not if it rains. That’s why I had other stuff stashed here – not all things could be sold all year round – I had a little of everything here, sold a lot of it online”

Turning over to face Nick, Judy found herself a little unsure of what to do with her left paw. It was on Nick’s shoulder... but there wasn’t really room to just pull it back without it looking awkward. She needed something to take Nick’s attention while she repositioned! Quick!

“Uhm – ok, but why trick me, I mean, others into buying a jumbo-pop for you? Wouldn’t it be easier, or even cheaper, to just buy some sugar, strawberry concentrate and then hit up a public water fountain?” Judy asked, hoping that Nick wouldn’t notice how awkward she thought she was coming off.

Having put his hustling days behind him, Nick found himself in the curious position of being able to wax nostalgic about his exploits without having to worry that much about losing anything to it – there was nobody listening who might try to copy his gimmick and muscle him out of his niche, so for the first time ever he actually felt free to tell about his old trade secrets. It was delightfully liberating!

“Ok, we actually tried that a few times – but it’s something they put in the jumbo-pop to make them freeze in a special way: There’s no big ice crystals in them, even when we re-freeze them. If we did the juice, sugar and water trick we’d end up with really hard red and sugary ice-cubes on sticks. Nobody wants to buy those” Nick explained.

Judy was mid hand-extraction, surprised at how quickly Nick had explained himself – well, part of it anyway, though it certainly did seem to grab his full attention: “So why the trickery?”

“Oh, well... you said you heard what the take from the pawpsicles was right? Between gas money and a few other expenses, like renewing those licenses I showed you and stuff, then a thing like that doesn’t earn you more than a full day of work at minimum wage – sure it’s not necessarily taxed, but again the weather and time of year also cuts into when you can do it, so saving fifteen bucks on ‘raw materials’ was actually a big part of the profits” Nick continued, reminding Judy of just how boring it was to listen to her father talk about budgets and finances for the family farm.

Her arm free, Judy let out a sigh of relief: “I get it – but... what if you couldn’t find anyone to sucker into buying you a jumbo-pop? And wouldn’t the owner of the place catch on that you were hustling his costumers?”

“We always had the option of paying ourselves – but like I said, we had really narrow profit margins, especially since both me and Finnick usually stashed at least half our earnings for rainy days – it wasn’t until I met you that I got the idea that I could be more than just that” Nick said, giving Judy a very thankful look.

Judy, happy for the explanation and the sentiment, was herself more focused on the fact that Nick had put a paw on her thigh. It took effort on her part not to twitch her leg – not out of fear, but excitement... and yet she really wasn’t sure she was ok with doing all of this, getting intimate and whatnot. She really needed some strong liquid courage right now.

“Carrots, you ok?” Nick asked, taking his paw back. He could hear that her breathing was picking up – something was making her antsy.

Fearing that things were starting to unravel, grabbed Nick’s paw and held to her to thigh: “No I just... I mean, yes – but...”

With his other paw Nick nudged up Judy’s chin, making it impossible for her to avert her gaze: “Talk to me Carrot’s what’s wrong”

“Not what – who! Me! It’s what I did that was wrong – we wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t tricked you! If our genders were flipped you’d have an iron-clad rape case against me!” Judy almost shrieked, confessing all of her anxiety in one giant burst of pent of angst.

Nick took a single deep breath, not letting go of Judy, even as she tried to inch away from him: “Would I have a case against if you if our genders were flipped? Is the case-law on rape on that area that one-sided? Yes, yes on both accounts. However, you’re missing a fairly key element here Sherlock Hopps”

Wiping her eyes and nose in a single if somewhat messy motion, Judy felt horribly unprofessional, but she remained quiet and shook her head at Nick.

“First up, then I respect you immensely both as a fellow officer and as a person. Secondly, that you were able to trick me with those incredibly tasty oatmeal stouts only made me respect you greater” Nick stated, the paw on his shoulder inching around her to pull her in for a hug.

Leaning into Nick, Judy stopped trying to hold back her tears – though this time it was tears of joy.

Resting his chin on her head, Nick continued: “Also, Judy, you rode my dick harder than any woman has ever done. That impresses me. That makes me curious. That makes me...”

Judy had put a paw on Nick’s snout: “I get it - I guess buying all those toys to work myself up to fox size in advance paid off”

Nick chose not to ask. He wanted to, but chose not to – though he might ask for pictures later. As Judy kissed him, his mind quickly moved away from asking any questions at all – though his paws, as if they had a mind of their own, did manage to start unbuttoning Judy’s shirt, and then his own.

An hour or so later Nick’s alarm clock blinked nine thirty next to Nick’s bed. On the bed Judy and Nick laid quite still, spooning.

“So... how much longer?” Judy asked, wiggling her rear into Nick’s groin.

Nick let out a very pleased fox noise, the sort one takes and writes silly songs about, before he said: “I’d give it another twenty to thirty minutes... I’ve heard stories about how much you can get hurt from forcing it out if the lock is as tight as this”

“But I feel like I need to take a huge dump, like... my constipation was nothing compared to this” Judy groaned.

Hugging Judy tight to his stomach, Nick chuckled: “You were the one who wanted to skip straight to the butt-stuff, so you don’t get to complain”

“Alright stupidly well hung fox” Judy chided.

Nick stifled a laugh as he shot back: “stupid sexy bunny”

...

The next day, after clocking in at precinct one, Nick and Judy picked up the warrants Bogo had procured. After that it was off to Zootopia University.

“Oh thank cheese” Judy let out and she sat down in the cruiser down in the precinct one parking garage.

Nick found Judy’s relief quite amusing, then again he was at least partly to blame for Judy’s awkward gait that morning – not that Judy had complained the night before. He had at least managed to distract Clawhauser from noticing or commenting.

At Zootopia University Judy led the way to the university administration. After touching base there and convincing a rather distraught dean that they weren’t there to arrest anyone, Nick and Judy made their way to the building that housed the biology department.

Like the rest of ZU then the biology department was set up in large and spacious structures that looked a bit too much like they had been made to look old, despite obviously not having been built more than forty or fifty years age, no matter how much the various structures tried to mimic century old pre-founding architecture styles.

Judy found the look to be very ‘Zootopia’ – in the sense that it was trying a little too hard to be all-inclusive and whatnot. Nick seemed more amused by looking around at the students milling about.

“Have you studied here? You look... familiar with the place?” Judy asked.

Nick shrugged: “No, once I got out of high school I stopped trying... maybe not the smartest move in retrospect – I think I would have to done well if I had studied business, but I used to come here regularly for business”

“Do I even want to know?” Judy said with a raised eyebrow as they passed by a quad with a nice circle of trees around some benches in it.

Pointing towards a half-filled parking lot next to a dorm off in the distance, something that Judy had to hop onto a bench to see, Nick explained: “I’ve told you before – I never did anything illegal. No, me and Finnick had a liquor license and would buy cheap hooch in the canal district and sahara square, or gather stuff up via the charity we had, then come up here and sell it to the students”

Judy was about to object on the grounds that there should be plenty of places near campus to buy that kind of stuff, to but Nick quickly added: “...and for some strange reason then every store in walking distance of campus sells their alcohol at a big mark-up, almost as if they know there will be thirsty students roaming their lands looking for things to drink”

That local liquor stores were trying to milk the student body didn’t surprise Judy: “Ok, that makes sense... I guess – back in Bunnyburrow, like with the fish truck, there were a couple of other salesmammals who’d only come around one or twice a year. They sold farming machinery... they probably did the same thing”

“There are hustlers everywhere” Nick mused, readjusting his shades.

Arching her back and trying to ‘shake off’ the disappointment in now knowing that local businesses were actively trying to exploit the university students, Judy scowled a bit: “You might have had a liquor licence, but I doubt you permission to sell anything on campus grounds”

“Sell what? The evidence would be gone before anyone could complain about it” Nick grinned.

“Sly fox” Judy smirked.

“Drunk students” Nick added.

Circling around the building with the biology department to find a door, Nick and Judy sought out anyone who would actually had to time to talk to them. Their warrant let them look around everywhere – and the dean had also said that they could look anywhere they wanted, but they were only two and there was a lot of biology department to look through.

It being around nine thirty meant that classes were in session everywhere – so professors or other staff that weren’t busy seemed impossible to find.

“Ok, Bellwether said that they had stashed some kind of biology machine somewhere, the one they used to ennoble their nighthowlers... so we need to find a machine of some sort” Judy said to herself, her tone exasperated since... well... there were biology machines everywhere.

Nick rubbed his temples mid-frown: “Carrots, I don’t recall Bellwether using that word... and there are machines everywhere – we can’t just trail around the hallways aimlessly”

“Ennoble, as in make the plants produce a more concentrated poison in this case. Eating raw nighthowlers only make you loopy for a short while, then you sleep it off – Bellwether’s strain produced a more potent toxin, so mammals went savage until they got the cure” Judy explained, drawing from information from both the original nighthowler pellet investigation, the new feral pill report and Bellwether’s new testimony.

Peeking in through a door to an auditorium, which turned out to just have some students doing homework, Nick nodded: “Oh... like growing different versions of lambspread – the industrial stuff they use for paper won’t get you high, but the ones you can buy at the head shops will”

“Strains, Nick – the word is strains. Different strains of a plant, like different sub-species of the same kind of mammal” Judy corrected, feeling frustrated over their lack of finding anyone to talk to.

Continuing down the hallway, Nick paused: “Like horses and zebras... and... hold on, we’re doing this wrong”

Judy perked up, giving Nick an ear and a glance: “Yes like them – what are we doing wrong?”

Nick quickly stepped back up to Judy: “We’re looking in the classrooms and labs where all the students and professors work – we’re looking for something hidden, something off the books. We need to talk to someone in charge of inventory, then run through their storage and find something that is there but shouldn’t be”

“I know that – that’s why we’re looking for someone to show us that” Judy said dryly.

With an almost pained expression Nick looked to the ceiling, then back at Judy: “Yes, but what we’re looking for won’t be here – all the gear in these labs are used andprobably fair well documented. We need to find out where they store the equipment they aren’t using, because this thing would be hidden out of sigh”

Nodding, Judy listened for a moment, her ears scanning the area: “Yes, let’s do that... and there’s someone over in that office!”

The office belonged to a Professor Sven Mulberry, a hairy pig in a very casual and stained T-shirt and worn jeans who was quite surprised to have two officers knocking on his door: “Is this about the bacon? I swear those morons on the ethics comity will pay for this!”

“Whoa, easy – we’re not here for any... whatever bacon is... we’re looking for some hidden lab equipment some criminals might have stashed here, and we need a guide” Judy pleaded, trying hard to not scare off their so far only possible guide to the facilities.

The professor quickly calmed down, and once Nick and Judy explained what they were looking for he revealed a far greater insight than what they had expected: “Oh you’ve read my reports – what did you think about it? City hall wouldn’t let me publish anything from it... part of an ongoing investigation, both times, bah!”

It turned out Mulberry had been part of the original team that had tested and documented the effects of the nighthowler pellets, back during the Bellwether trial and been part of the development of the original cure. He had more recently worked on the same for the feral pills that Nick and Judy had found.

“So you think Bellwether has some kind of equipment hidden here?” Mulberry said, as he unlocked the door to the basement storage area.

The halls in the storage facility were of naked concrete, and apparently connected though heavy steel doors to the rest of the campus underground. There had been no attempts at decorating anything – there were just name-tags on doors and the odd cardboard box left out in the hallway, along with a faint mechanical hum of ventilation shafts.

“Yes, but it would have been hidden away here over two years ago – by one or three rams that Bellwether was using to develop the weaponized strain” Nick noted, looking for things that had extra thick layers of dust.

Between old experimental rigs, tightly sealed buckets, drums and wheel-mounted vats of chemicals and raw materials to be used in experiments, the biology department had loads of things in storage. As the three poked around, Nick and Judy talked to the professor about how he had tested the nighthowler pellets and the pills.

“Oh well, it wasn’t just me – I was part of a much bigger team. I mean, the research grants we got from city hall to do the original nighthowler cure project... amazing – but after we examined the pellet and identified the neuro-toxin that makes you go savage we were able to synthesize it directly. A few tests confirmed that it was indeed that compound which made mammals go savage, and after that we just had to find a way to decouple and block it from your brain’s chemical receptors” Mulberry regaled, sounding very proud of having been part of all that work.

Nick found it very boring to listen to. Judy also appeared to be struggling to keep her focus.

Regarding the hidden the equipment, then Mulberry did recall a ram: a PhD student from three years ago who had come in, rented some lab space, used it, then left again: “He wasn’t all that sociable, but he did work with various poisonous plants for some kind of medical use if I recall correctly”

“Sounds like our ram – do you remember his name?”Judy said hopefully.

Mulberry shook his head, his bristly hair barely even jiggling: “No, but now that I think about it – I don’t think it’ll matter. When he came there was a thing about his credentials”

“Let me guess – city hall vouched for him, so it wasn’t looked into?” Nick inquired, feeling quite certain in what the answer would be. Mulberry confirmed that Nick’s hunch was right, and thus any hope of finding the identity of Bellwether’s cook and shooter through that avenue was dashed.

Focusing again on searching for hidden equipment, Mulberry led Nick and Judy away from the often used storage areas: “We move things in and out of there all the time to the cargo elevator – if you’re looking for hidden things you want to poke around in these rooms here, for long term storage”

The university’s inventory lists was sadly rather jumbled and poorly maintained, so checking to see if something was meant to be there was slow and tiresome. That Nick and Judy didn’t know what they were looking for didn’t help either.

“Ok, so you say it’s something that would have allowed them to ennoble a strain. They would have needed things to test for toxicity levels and chemical composition... but I’m pretty sure he used our regular lab equipment as well – so if he hid part of what he used, well it could be anything” Mulberry thought out loud.

Judy, thinking back to Bunnyburrow and how they would occasionally try to produce specific crops to certain specs, asked: “Do you know what the growth cycle of nighthowlers are? How long would it take to breed a strain that makes concentrated toxins?”

“They grow from late spring, bloom during summer – and changing the natural toxin concentrations would have taken very long if you just take the highest toxin producers from each crop and use those for pollination” the professor mused, looking through a long row of things in boxes set on steel shelves.

Nick looked around the dimly lit store room: “Say... what if you don’t want to spend a decade growing your poison plants? If you want to fiddle with your flowers quickly?”

The pig professor made a quick oink: “You would need some fairly complicated genetic engineering gear – we have some rigs for that, but they’re closely monitored for what they’re used for and in plain view upstairs...”

“Just how big are that kind of setups?” Nick mused, scanning the room for larger things.

Over in the corner was a large something with a tarp over it. A dusty bit of cardboard with “Viral germination tanks, don’t touch” denoted it as something that clearly had nothing to do with fiddling with plants.

“Well this is strange – I don’t remember anyone doing experiments requiring germination tanks – and you don’t use that for viruses. Maybe someone...” Mulberry began, when Nick cut him off: “It sounds like a scary thing that nobody would want to touch or look into, right?”

Looking closer at the thing revealed that the dust around it was – for the lack of a better word – too thick.

“Someone dusted this thing down – and recently – to make it look like it’s here forever” Judy noted, comparing the thickness of dust on the shelf racks to the dust on the tarp.

Pulling away the tarp revealed something far more technical than what Nick or Judy could identify – but the pig seemed quite excited: “Incredible! This is a, yes – an early model, but it totally is!”

Yanking the pig away from the machine, Nick quickly stated: “What is it – and no contaminating the evidence please”

Taking out his smartphone and looking something up, then nodding, Mulberry looked up: “Yes, of course – but look here, this is a K-tech RNA sequencer. It lets you build custom RNA strands – I’ve been trying to get the administration to approve me buying one of these for years! This is amazing”

With the pig too excited to explain himself in his current state, Nick and Judy led the professor back to his office. Once there the pig calmed down, allowing him to explain what the machine was and what it did – neither of these things particularly interested Judy and Nick – they just wanted to know if this was the thing they were looking after.

“Oh yes, complete – it actually explains a lot of things! This is exactly the kind of machine you would need to very quickly whip up some super-toxic nighthowlers” Mulberry gushed.

With that cleared up Nick and Judy waited for the CSIs to show up and process the machine. If Bellwether’s former minions had been there recently they would certainly have left some clues to what exactly they made, how it works, and through that where and how they’re selling it.

While waiting, the two officers talk end up talking with Mulberry about how he helped test the Nighthowlers and the new feral pills: “Oh it’s not that complicated. After we found a protein that would bind to the original nighthowler neuro-toxin and leave a harmless combined product behind we started limited clinical trials of the nighthowler drug, just to see how it really worked. With the pills you had already proven that the cure worked on them, so after we tested each pill to confirm that the content was identical we skipped to clinical trials”

“Ok, but these trials... who did you test them on? And how? I mean, who would sign up for that kind of tests willingly?” Judy wondered, finding it hard to believe that any mammal would willingly let themselves get turned savage.

Mulberry laughs: “We have plenty of volunteers from the students on campus – especially for state funded ‘emergency trials’ like the nighthowler and pill ones. There is prestige to have been part of it, plus we pay them a very nice hazard fee – and with the cure on hoof there’s no real danger involved anyway”

“Alright, but how did you test them? I mean, savage mammals aren’t exactly safe to be around” Judy wonders out loud.

Mulberry points out that they simply restrained the test subjects before administering the drugs – though for the pills it had quickly become apparent that restraints weren’t needed: “The test subjects would just rip their clothes off, pace the test chamber a bit, then go to sleep... heavy sleep too, you had to poke them quite hard to wake them up”

“Yes we read the report – hey is there anything that didn’t make it into the report that you’ve found out afterwards?” Nick wondered, feeling just a tad bored.

The pig oinked thoughtfully for a few moments: “Well, we didn’t have that many pills to work with – but the main protein in the chemical that locks into your mind does degrade for time, though slowly. We didn’t have enough time to test that, but I hypothesize that this second kind of nighthowlers would wear off after a day or so... maybe – there’s no way to be sure without testing it”

“But you’d need more pills to test that?” Judy noted.

Looking for some notes, the professor agreed: “Loads – just like the original nighthowler poison, then we can’t synthesize the unique mix of hormones and toxic proteins that make you go savage. Same problem here. You need to grow this stuff, and you can’t just get it from regular nighthowlers, though I suspect that if you pollinate unmodified ones with pollen from the modified ones it might work, if the changes are dominant traits... otherwise the effect you get from them is too weak, and very temporary. Also the pills you got were only for certain sizes of mammals, so we don’t know if it works differently on smaller or bigger ones – could only safely test them on other goats and cheetahs, and that’s just too small a sample size to find out anything more than just what the things do, not how or why they do it”

A text message buzz hummed out from Judy’s phone in her pocket. It was Detective Oats wanting to know where Nick and Judy was. Thanking the pig for his good work, Nick and Judy headed out to meet oats.  
Guiding Oats and the CSIs to the RNA sequencing machine, Nick and Judy signed over the scene to Oats who in turn forked it over to the CSIs.

“You two did great in finding this – who knows what we’ll find in this thing” Oats says in a very satisfied tone.

With their presence no longer needed, Nick and Judy departed, returning to their patrol beat for the rest of the day until their shift ends. Nick couldn’t help but notice just how satisfied Judy looked.


	6. Spices of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A clue finally comes in on the nighthowler case - its time for some proper investigation!

A few weeks passed, Judy and Nick learning from Oats that several different ‘recipies’ for organic chemistry that could be used to alter the genes of nighthowler plants had been found in the machine’s memory. Testing them all to find out what they do to the plants was what was taking the most time – growing new crops of the plants wasn’t something you did overnight, but both Nick and Judy seem quite content to wait this time around.  
In the mean time Nick and Judy spent a fair bit of their time off together: Some of that time was spent in bed, learning the ins, outs and other funny bits of each other’s bodies. Some of that time was spent in the shower (usually after spending time in bed, or before) and some of it was spent in the kitchen at Nick’s place, where Judy found that Nick was actually not that bad at cooking, when he wasn’t just living off spruced up frozen pizzas.  
“Had to learn – when me and Finnick would get random stuff at irregular intervals via our food charity we had to figure out how to make do... and sometimes that means figuring out a hundred ways to make dried up and ever-so-slightly stale cabbage taste good” Nick notes, flipping his wok vigorously over the gas stove and fiddling around with the stir-fry within. The cabbage, bamboo shoots, onions, finely chopped carrots and prawns in the mix smelled really good.

Judy, sitting at Nick’s little kitchen dining table nods: “Ya, you wouldn’t believe how many ways we can cook carrots back home...”

“Boil ‘em, mash ‘em or stick ‘em in a stew?” Nick wondered idly and yet oddly melodically.

Shrugging, Judy points to the wok: “Well you’re using them for stir fry, so there is that too”  
With Judy’s gut finally able to reliably process even red meat now that it had been ‘unplugged’, the two settled in for a nice evening with dinner, a movie and inevitable sexy times.  
  
As a snack for the movie Nick sprung a surprise on Judy: “I got these from that pig professor we talked to – remember he mentioned bacon?”  
  
Judy looks in disbelief at the fried stick of thinly sliced meat Nick is waving before her: “Yes, I looked up the term – it’s made from pig meat. That... shouldn’t be possible to make”  
  
Grinning from ear to ear, Nick says: “Sure it is – they can print new organs at the hospitals... organs are meat – Mulberry has a rig like that where he works. He made this from his own cells, made stemcells out of them and then printed them as meat! It’s brilliant!”  
  
Judy’s nose twitches, and her face twists into a scowl: “Nick... no – this weird – it’s like eating someone else’s claw clippings or something – you don’t eat other mammals”  
  
“That’s a lovely prejudicial opinion you have there fluff – would be a shame if someone was to point out that pretty much every time you’ve defied your own prejudice for the last couple years you found yourself quite positively surprised” Nick snarked, waving the stick of bacon at Judy.  
  
Maybe it was her being prey and him being predator, but the slightly smoky pork smell just didn’t feel that interesting to Judy – but she could not deny what Nick was saying about her trying to do things she thought she couldn’t, or shouldn’t, and how that usually seemed to pay off.  
  
“Ok, I’ll bite” Judy said, snapping at the bacon.  
  
What followed next was the first time Nick had ever seen a female mammal orgasm from just eating food.  
  
“Nick... if mulberry prints out a big juicy dick of this stuff, I’m going to have to leave you in favour of this. I want to have its babies” Judy says in a dreamy haze, her sanity fleeting in face of the lightly smoked flavour heaven she feels herself in at that time.  
  
The two didn’t have sex that night. They had bacon – and it was at the very least just as good.  
  
The next notable event that happened in Nick and Judy’s lives was when Nick finally managed to get Judy to agree to try sushi. Not wanting to simply drag her into the nearest chop-shop for some quick and dirty raw fish fast food, Nick instead made a reservation in what turned out to be a very classy establishment: Evening gown and three piece suit classy.  
  
Judy was... apprehensive – to put it mildly. This was a predator restaurant – no ifs and buts about it. Up until now they had been quite subtle about Judy’s dietary heresy, but going to a place like this? Someone was bound to snap a picture with a phone or something, that was at least Judy’s fear... and Nick giving her a foot-rub, while nice, wasn’t tiding her over as well as he had hoped.  
  
“Carrots, you have it all wrong – this is a classy place, that also means it has certain standards. Nobody who goes there would ever pull something like that on the other guests” Nick assured the hesitant bunny as he switched to the other foot, enjoying the look of Judy’s lean but muscular legs as she was splayed out in his bed, not wearing anything but her fur and a smile on her face... not that he could see her face since she was lying on her stomach.  
  
Turning around and giving her foxy lover a somewhat disapproving and doubtful look, Judy replied: “And you know this how?”  
  
“I did my research. Looked around for places where you could take your date without anyone asking questions or taking pictures – you’d be amazed what kind of weird things that kind of search queries will get you – but this place? It’s apparently quite popular for predators to bring their illicit lovers and whatnot. Very discreet, tinted windows and no press allowed” Nick explained, trying to reacquire the foot he had been rubbing, but to no avail.  
  
Crawling up to Nick, Judy grabbed hold of... something... and gave it a tug, just to be sure she had his full attention. She got his full attention, erection and then some: “I’m not afraid of the public learning about us, or about what I eat... I just don’t want our work to suffer for it – they’ll have to split us up”  
  
“I fully respect your priorities here fluff – and I get your worries on that point. We’ll need to find some kind of way to go public eventually... can’t have you keep sneaking over here every other night from wherever it is you live these days” Nick mused, his voice reflecting an honest respect that Judy rarely heard him put forth this willingly.  
  
A week or so later Nick met Judy at the Saucy Fin, the tiger at the door letting them in as Nick showed his reservation on his phone.  
  
Entering the place Nick found many things to there made to steal away his attention: The golden lion statues, the beautiful murals of ocean waves and blossoming trees, the subtle yet delicious smell of raw fresh fish in the air... but all of it paled to Judy.  
  
He simply had no words. He didn’t have any clue where Judy had gotten the dress from either, or when for that matter: It was a simple black silk dress, no frills, no thrills, low cut in the back, deep cut for the thighs, and hugging her figure as if to leave nothing and everything to the imagination at the same time. Sure he had seen Judy naked before. He had seen her fur messy, crusty and reeking of sex. He had seen her panting and moaning for more – but this... this made him want to simply see her take the dress off slowly, despite him knowing how everything would look underneath.  
  
Nick himself was of course impeccably dressed: A sharp and well-cut black suit, tailored by one an old acquaintance from his time ‘working’ with Mr. Big. It fit him perfectly, and Nick felt supremely confident that it had been well worth the investment, even if the damn thing had cost him nearly a month’s salary.  
  
If Judy was finding Nick’s appearance just as captivating as he was finding hers, then she wasn’t letting it on. Nick couldn’t help but wonder if that was all the media events she had been dragged to during the Bellwether trial.  
  
At their assigned table Nick assisted Judy in ordering a simple plate of sushi – a wide selection for someone who wanted, reluctantly or not, to try everything at least once.  
  
Showing Judy how to properly use the thin slices of pickled ginger and small pitchers of soy sauce, and the... oh boy  
  
“Uhm Judy, that wasn’t a pea” Nick said, trying desperately to not start laughing.  
  
Judy’s face indeed went from “This wasn’t a pea?” to “So this is what wasabi is” in about seven seconds. Nick wondered what cruel gods had set things up so he didn’t have the means to take a picture of her right then and there – because Judy’s expression as she furiously snarfed down as much water as possible, even eying the small pitcher of soy-sauce with pained desperation, before a tigress came by their table with a small bowl made of woven bamboo strips filled with freshly fried up prawn crackers.  
  
The bland flavour of the prawn crackers took the edge off the incendiary cataclysm in her mouth, but Judy couldn’t help but fail to scowl at Nick. She knew this was all her mistake, for having rushed ahead without waiting to listen to him explaining what everything was – and this definitely wasn’t your typical Bunnyburrow spread.  
  
As things finally calmed down the two received their orders. Nick showed Judy how to hold the chop-sticks, but being a bunny meant that Judy had extra fluff between her fingers and toes... fluff that made holding chopsticks rather bothersome. Still, it wasn’t impossible, and with no small amount of frustration Judy finally got the tiny slivers of wood to hold right... but then came the issue of manipulating them to actually grab stuff.  
  
Nick realized that it might have been a good idea to have ensured that Judy knew how to use thing like that before coming to a place like this, but ok... this was the situation – might as well make the best of it.  
  
Picking a morsel of sushi up from Judy’s elegant square polished bamboo plate with his chopsticks, Nick offered it to Judy: “To the most beautiful and flustered bunny in all of Zootopia”  
  
Judy accepted the compliment, leaned in and opened wide – perhaps a little too wide, but this whole place... the fact that she couldn’t get the hang of the utensils – she was a bit on edge.  
  
Now, if the bacon had been a brutal explosion of delicious smoky pork flavour for her, then this seemed far more... subdued, subtle. The rice with its hint of vinegar, the raw fish with its distinct texture, notable but by no means strong yet unique flavour...  
  
Nick felt his heart swell as Judy chewed the salmon-roll judiciously, every new flavour and nuance washing over her highlighted by a twitch of her ears, the perking of an eyebrow, or some other small and likely unconscious gesture as she savoured the experience.  
  
“I had no idea fish could taste this good” Judy admitted, looking down at her plate with disbelief.  
  
If asked Nick would have found it very difficult to explain how he felt at that moment, but seeing Judy dig in to the rest of her sushi with gusto – sushi, his absolute favourite kind of food – just made him so incredibly happy.  
  
The rest of the evening proceeded without fanfare or drama, though Judy did ultimately settle for simply stabbing her sushi with a lone chopstick as a means to grab her food like a common sushi pleb. Had to start somewhere. When they got back to Nick’s place the two kissed passionately, after which Nick ruined the mood by finally gathering up the courage to broach the apparently touchy issue of why they always went to his place: “Say Judy... where exactly do you live? We never go to your place – you still shacked up at that Pangolin Arms dump?”  
  
The sound of air being let out of a balloon would have done well to describe the look on Judy’s face the passion and excitement in her after having enjoyed what was quite likely the most delicate meal she had ever had in her life: “I... no, I don’t live there anymore. I moved out of there back during Bellwether’s reign, when I quite the force”  
  
“So where exactly have you been living the last two years then? Bogo’s couch? Or did they give you Bellwether’s old downtown penthouse?” Nick asked, not relenting now that he had finally managed to get Judy to talk about the subject.  
  
Maybe it was that amazing rice wine, maybe it was her affection for Nick that made her want to own up to him. It was hard to tell, but either way she explained: “City hall offered to house me ‘temporarily’ during the trial in a tiny little place near the canal district, so I could be on hand to testify and stuff. I just sort of... never moved out. If I remember right it’s part of a set of apartments they use to house out-of-town visitors that need to work for hall for long periods of time, like contractors and stuff – the rules are even more strickt there than at the pangolin place though. I’m not allowed to bring any kind of visitors... and I think they just sort of forgot to kick me out”  
  
“You do realize that the obvious solution would be to move in here with me...” Nick noted, not even sure if he dared touch Judy’s fine dress.  
  
Putting a gentle paw on Nick’s chest, then moving it to grab his tie and untie it: “Would love to, really – but again, it would be too obvious a red flag for work...”  
  
The two then proceeded to gently undress each other, followed by not so gently fucking each other until both more or less passed out from blissful exhaustion and release.  
  
It was another two weeks before precinct one got a lab update on that machine Nick and Judy had found:  
  
First off the report confirmed that someone had used the machine within the last six months, but it was impossible to tell who – though it was pretty obvious since the two new nighthowler strains developed would have required extensive experience with genetically manipulating such plants already – or careful instructions.  
  
The data recovered made for three separate flavours of genetic modification of the natural nighthowler plant:  
  
The first one appeared to be a baseline modification that let the plant grow better in hydroponic setups and produce a more concentrated neuro-toxin. This was quite likely what Bellwether had used to produce the original pellets to turn mammals savage.  
  
The two others were a tad strange: The second one yielded effects on mammals similar enough to the feral pills that the research team was certain that the two were the same effective drug – but... the files in the machine had labelled this strain as the Love Strain. This didn’t exactly match the test results, and the notes in the machine were quite explicit about the idea having been to produce an aphrodisiac.  
  
The third strain, when tested like the others, had basically yielded no results at all: The subjects didn’t go feral, and after four or so hours there wasn’t any trace left in their system of the drug. They suspected that it was simply a dud that had come from the drug makers running into a ‘genetic dead end’ that didn’t make the plant produce a toxin that actually did anything useful to mammals.  
  
With the revelation that the feral pills were meant as aphrodisiacs Detective Oats, along with Nick and Judy, quickly came up with a new plan to track down the drug source: Nick and Judy would canvas all major stores that dealt in what one might generously call “Herbal bedroom aid vendors” – basically any place that sold thinly veiled boner pills disguised as herbal supplements.  
  
It was apparently something of a legal grey area, allowing herbal supplement stores to market products that ‘might’ improve one’s sexual performance, as long as the products were not advertising with a sexual-performance boost effect as its chief function. For Judy this mainly meant a lot of rather uncomfortable packaging with bunnies on them, offering painfully stereotypical carrot-scented and/or flavoured herbal bedroom supplements “guaranteed to keep you thumping all night”.  
  
Nick even refrained from joking about all the products claiming to give rabbit bucks carrot flavoured semen. Oh the jokes he could have made...  
  
About a third through the list of these stores, at around three in the afternoon, Judy’s ears were basically stuck burning red in embarrassment. The amount of products aimed at bunnies was just staggering: From stuff that claimed to give you energy and stamina to last through the night, to things that make your various juices taste a certain way, the variety of products was endless.  
  
“Hey, we were here a couple weeks ago, weren’t we?” Nick noted, looking at the pink neon sign of the “Spices of Love” health-food and herbal supplement store.  
  
Judy groaned in resignation: “Let’s just get this over with”  
  
The procedure Nick and Judy had nailed down for the stores was at this point fairly set in stone: They would go in, identify themselves and then ask if the shop had introduced any new products in the last three months. Very few had anything to show, and so far none of the new products that had been showed fit the description.  
  
Entering the Spices of Love, Nick was met with a heady scent of... everything – there was traces of basically every herb used for scent purposes hanging in the air, though whether it was just leaking from the products on the shelves or because the proprietor had samples open for visitors to smell, that was impossible to tell. It certainly wasn’t the first store of the day that smelled like that.  
  
A lean if not downright gangly leopard in a tight pink tanktop and a nice purple skirt sauntered out from behind the desk, patting down his moustache. When he saw Nick, the leopard made some kind of lusty cat noise: “Oh my”  
  
“Good afternoon. I’m Officer Wilde, this is Officer Hopps. We’re investigating a possibly fraudulent drug being sold as a herbal supplement – have you introduced any new products in the last three months?” Nick said officiously.  
  
The leopard sauntered up to Nick, his hips swaying just a tad too much with each step: “Well bad boy, maybe I have, maybe I haven’t...”  
  
Kneeling down and grinning at Nick, the leopard said: “...a cutie like you would have to interrogate me long and hard to get that kind of information”  
  
This time it was Judy’s turn to work hard on stifling so much laughter. Nick’s ears were practically steaming, though his russet fur hid them turning red quite well.  
  
“I’m thinking full cavity search – I have some nice pineapple-scented lube out in the back room?” the leopard fantasized out loud, all the while Nick looked quite ready to nope the fuck out.  
  
Satisfied with her amusement, Judy stepped up between Nick and the leopard: “Excuse me – like my partner said, we are looking for a possibly fraudulent drug. It would have been introduced within the last three months. Do you have any new products”  
  
The leopard stood up and thought for a moment: “I’ll look up the inventory. I just stock shelves and do the register – The owner, Miss Mugato, she manages the suppliers, but she’s on vacation down south somewhere.  
  
Poking around on a computer just out in the back, all the while shooting Nick looks that made the fox feel even dirtier than the last time him and Finnick went dumpster diving.  
  
“Oh here we go darling, I printed out a list of new products – it’s really short” the leopard announced.  
  
Indeed, the list was quite short – but that seemed to be the norm for most of the shops they had been to. With the help of the sassy shop Nick and Judy quickly checked out the new products.  
  
“What is this? ‘Feralove’ Bring out your inner sexual tyrannosaurus... really?” Judy said, reading off a plain white box with a somewhat generic blue floral print pattern around the edges.  
  
The leopard clapped his paws excitedly: “Oh this one came highly recommended, well that’s what Miss Mugato said – plus she said that she and her girlfriend hadn’t fucked that hard for well over a decade”  
  
“Have you tried it? Do you know what it does?” Judy wondered, getting the feeling that this wasn’t the product they were looking for, since that certainly didn’t sound like anything that made you fall asleep.  
  
Nick eyed the leopard suspiciously – something that the leopard seemed to take to heart: “What? No, I never sample the merchandise – I’m a 100% natural sex-machine, trust me... worst I do is the bit of nip, but that’s still legal, right? And it’s probably just the same gin-sing sugar pills that everything else here is based on anyway”  
  
“Oh its legal– Hey carrots, does it say anything else on the box?” Nick asked, smiling in mild amusement to the leopard’s description of the rest of the inventory of the shop.  
  
Judy looked around on the box: “It really doesn’t say much – I’m guessing there are instructions inside”  
  
“Probably – no sense in giving away everything before someone buys the stuff” the leopard commented.  
  
With the Feralove product the only thing that looked to fit the description so far, even if it was dubious, the two called in their find. Bogo told them to buy a couple of packs of the stuff, finish the list of shops and then bring everything so it could be sent off to a lab for testing: “...and yes Nick, you will be reimbursed – and no, you don’t get to keep anything we don’t end up using in the lab”  
  
The rest of the shops didn’t have anything worth mentioning or bringing in, and so Nick and Judy dropped off the five packs of Feralove at precinct one when they returned to clock out, along with a print-out of the supplier info from the Spices of love’s inventory database.  
  
The next morning Nick and Judy had barely managed to clock in before Oats called them up to his office – he had the documentation for the Feralove supplier on his desk: “I think you two found something yesterday”  
  
“Did the labs get back on the stuff in the Feralove pills?” Judy asked quickly, her ears perking up.  
  
The big brown-coated horse shook his head: “No, I just sent them off to the labs – and the packages didn’t have blue gel pills like the ones you had found, but white capsules... no it’s about the company that supplies them”  
  
Apparently the company that was listed as the supplier of the Feralove capsules was a fake one. It was registered to a five year old dingo cub who’s family had been the victim of a combined identity theft a while back.  
“Well that is certainly suspicious, even if it’s not the same kind of pills” Nick commented.  
  
Oats agreed, and added that until he got word back from the labs about the capsules then Nick and Judy should follow up on that company: “Bogo has ok’d a little sting: See if you can talk the owner of the shop you got these at to order some more – then we’ll catch whoever delivers the stuff and find out where they came from, wrap up the whole operation, nighthowler pills or not”  
  
Nick’s expression melted into something fitting his annoyance at having to deal with that leopard again. Judy saw this and joked: “I’ll bet the leopard will help us out if you agree to on a date with him”  
  
The fox’s head turned, slowly, so that he faced Judy, at which point he slowly but quite resolutely mouthed a silent: “No”  
  
Later, at the Spices of Love, the leopard shopkeep could barely contain or hide his erection from seeing Nick again. After calming the ‘excited’ leopard down, Judy managed to talk the leopard into ordered some more of the Feralove product: “So this was the stuff that you were looking for?”  
  
“Maybe – we don’t actually know – but when we ran it in our system we found that it was registered to someone who was flagged for having had her identity stolen, a five year old dingo cub, plus its registered to a false address. If you could just call them and order a few boxes of the stuff we’ll grab whoever comes and get to the bottom of this” Judy explained.  
  
“My boss isn’t going to be in trouble over this, right? The shop isn’t liable for anything?” the leopard wondered, still throwing the odd suggestive wink towards Nick.  
  
A bit more back and forth talk resulted in the Leopard calling up the Feralove supplier’s contact number and ordering three boxes of the stuff: “Ok, he said they’ll have it here around four”  
  
With that Nick and Judy went off to have lunch, after which they hid their police cruiser and found some good spots to spring their ambush from behind the shop, at the cargo delivery gate.  
  
Noon turned into afternoon, shadows grew longer, and bit a before four a van rolled up. It sounded loud, rumbly – big engine for a normal van?  
  
Nick, cloaked by shadows and peeking out from behind the storage room gate, radio’d Judy in the cruiser: “Ok carrots, the van is pulling up – run its plates. I’ll hold up the delivery mammal once fancy-pants has signed for the goods”


	7. Toxic Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bust... the bust - is it a bust? Why was it a bust? Who got busted? Why does my head hurt?

Pain. Lots of it. Also his ears were ringing so god damn loud...

Nick tried to get up, but his right arm wasn’t really doing what he wanted it too – it just hurt more when he tried to move it.

Fancy-pants the leopard had come out of hiding – lovely – at least the ringing in Nick’s ears prevented him from listening to the leopard gushing about how sorry he was that he had panicked and given the game away.

Rolling his head over to his left Nick saw Judy. She had landed in a pile of trash and cardboard crates... her foot was moving? He couldn’t hear her though.

Rolling his head the other way, Nick saw the delivery van. It was tipped over in the street. At least the claw-bed that Judy had deployed before rushing to his aid had paid off... but the driver’s seat sure looked empty.

Fuck this hurt... at least nothing was bleeding – that he could tell anyway.

Nick considered taking a nice little nap, but he remembered his training from the academy: You really shouldn’t take any naps immediately after suffering head trauma, and judging from the imprint of his right paw and arm all over his face... ya that was probably some flavour of head trauma – who would have thought that it was a bad idea for a fox to try to block a big ol’ ram trying to headbutt you with your right arm?

At least the ringing in his ears had subsided a little... well, enough that he could hear fancy-pant’s sobbing. It was difficult to get the right button on his radio with his left paw, the radio was on his left shoulder – he kept getting the button to call up Judy, and the only noises she was making pained groans just like him.

“Dispatch, this is Wilde. The sting was a... mixed blessing – owww... got the van, but the driver got away. Me and Judy... ugh... send an ambulance will ya? And someone to, ow, secure the scene” Nick managed to say before the strength in his left paw failed him. It wasn’t easy to focus when you hurt like this.

The next thing Nick knew was that he was lying down on a stretcher. He was still in the alley behind the Spices of Love. A big ol’ paramedic goat was looking down at him, smiling. Another paramedic was next to him, looking at something else, let’s see... yup, Judy on a stretcher.

“She ok?” Nick asked weakly.

The goat nodded: “Ah you’re awake – yes she’ll be fine, just a mild concussion and bruised ribs. You on the other paw, your right arm is dislocated at the shoulder, and you have a hell of a bruise all the way up and down your forearm... probably some micro-fractures too – you’ll need some X-rays”

Nick tried to think back – what had happened?

The delivery van had pulled up. Judy had run the plate number that Nick had given her, but nothing special – it wasn’t reported stolen. The leopard had gotten out to sign for the goods, but Nick had seen that the guy was shaky from the getgo... getting antsy.

The delivery mammal had been a ram – and not just any ram, but the big-horned and grey-wooled one from the original Nighthowler lab! The delivery uniform might have looked legit, but Nick knew for sure that he now had probable cause... but the ram had figured out that the leopard was in on it, so when Nick had burst out the ram had been there to tackle him and headbutt him into the wall... hence the pain.

Before Nick blacked out he had seen Judy rolling up in the cruiser, deploying the one-way nail-bed so the van couldn’t escape with blowing all its tires, before rushing in to help Nick out... but the Ram had, well, rammed her – and then tried to drive off, only to crash the van when it blew its tire while trying to swerve to the right.

At the hospital Judy was given a clean bill of health – on the condition that she didn’t do anything to upset her bruised ribs or mild concussion for a day or two. Nick in turn had apparently been blessed with luck, for the micro-fractures in his right arm were apparently miniscule enough that the doctors didn’t think he needed a cast or any long-term downtime – so in the end he also just needed a few days to recover from the concussion... and all the bruises, but they both needed time to do that.

It was all a blur really – Nick felt so tired, and Judy was set up in a different ward for smaller mammals.

The next day, even before breakfast was served, Nick felt just exactly good enough to get up, slip on his scuffed up uniform from the day before, and seek out Judy within the labyrinthine hospital hallways.

Wandering the corridors amidst elderly mammals clinging to drip-stands or orderlies hauling around mountains of dirty laundry, Nick recalled the thing Finick had once said about hospitals: “It’s not places mammals go to get better – it’s a place old and sick mammals go to die”

This did not make Nick want to stay.

His radio didn’t work within the hospital – which made sense, since the signal was supposed to go through their cruiser, which had probably been brought back to the precinct.

“Can I help you officer?” a rather sleepy-looking cat in the telltale garbs of a doctor said, spooking Nick quite a bit.

Spinning around quickly, Nick nodded: “Yes, I’m looking for my partner – she was brought in with me, wasn’t any more hurt than I was and I’m just looking to see if she wanted to check out along with me”

“Really now, let’s see” the doctor said, forcefully suppressing a yawn mid-sentence, as the cat lady drew out a large smartphone and, in a swift and decidedly practiced move, scanned Nick’s patient bracelet.

A ping signalled that Nick’s journal had been downloaded to the device. The doctor had a brief look, glancing to and from Nick’s right arm and head: “How do you feel?”

“Hungry – but I figured I’d get something once I leave, Chief Bogo will have my tail if I rack up any more overtime on this... I didn’t exactly get to clock out yesterday” Nick joked, though the bit about Bogo not wanting to see his officers rake in any more overtime due to ‘wasting time in a hospital bed’ was true enough... at least not when you could simply be put on light duty or just given days off to recover.

The doctor let out a bemused huff: “Really? I would have thought that the police had better ways of logging work hours... but ok, no pain in your arm or head?”

“Oh I’m plenty sore – but nothing feels broken. I figure if I don’t pick any fights with mammals three times my size for a few weeks I’ll be good as new – and honestly I’m surprised we don’t use punch-cards for time keeping considering how we’re made to do things” Nick noted as he patted down his brown and right arm with his left.

“Very well – it wouldn’t hurt you stay a day or so more for observation after a concussion like yours, but if you’re not feeling dizzy or having any memory issues, then you’re free to go, though keep the medical bracelet on: It’ll track your vitals for another week before the battery runs out – if anything happens the light on it will turn blue and signal emergency services will be called to your position” the doctor said, sounding like she had given that very speech far too often.

Nick nodded in appreciation: “Thank you – now, what about my colleague?”

Poking on her overgrown smartphone, then turning it to show Nick: “She’s registered here alright, just go find ward six and this room number... now, I really need to clock out myself... been up since midnight, so if you’ll excuse me....”

Nick was gone long before the sleepy doctor could go take a catnap.

Judy it turned out had gotten roughly the same idea as Nick, though she had apparently been put on some pain medication upon arrival that had delayed her waking up enough that Nick managed to catch Judy changing out of her paper-thin patient duds. Nick silently positioned himself just inside the door to enjoy the view, startling Judy when she turned around – at which point she was exceedingly undressed: “Hey!”

“Just checking up on my partner to see if she wanted to check out before we’re fed whatever water-softened cardboard that passes for food here” Nick expressed in a very much smarmy tone.

For a brief second Judy gave Nick a look he had seen many times in the morning when they had woken up together – it was a very ‘come hither’ look, but she quickly snapped out of it: “Nick, what if someone comes in – go, I’ll be out as soon as I’m dressed”

Outside Judy’s room Nick waited patiently, a male koala nurse coming up to Nick after a minute or so: “Excuse me, I can see you’re wearing a patient bracelet – should you be out of bed?”

Nick entertained the koala with his epic tale of having talked to a female cat doctor earlier – whose name he never got. The nurse scanned his bracelet, game him roughly the same plea to stay in for observation for a few days as before, adding that while rare then issues with short term memory and seizures weren’t unknown as after-effects of severe concussions.

Nick gave roughly the same reply that he had given the other doctor, adding that his partner Judy was about to jump ship with him. The nurse was even more dismayed at this, but again he said that it was their choice – just stay out of trouble for a few days: “Your arm will snap like a twig if anyone hits you – so don’t get hit”

“I promise I’ll do my utmost to let my partner take all of the hits for me” Nick sassed back.

Signing out was surprisingly easy, and the nurse at the desk said the same think about the bracelets monitoring their vitals again, Judy appearing impressed that something that tiny could do that.

“Well you know how small phones are these days – the bracelets are like that, just not bothering with room for a big touchscreen” the nurse at the desk noted as she waved them off.

Stepping into the almost blinding morning light as they exited the muted illumination of the hospital, Nick felt momentarily blinded – his vision shattering into a kaleidoscope of overwhelming visual stimuli. He felt Judy’s paws steadying him: “You ok?”

“Fox night vision... not good to stay indoors for too long” Nick groaned, having learned that lesson many times over in his life, and apparently forgotten it just as many times.

Getting something to eat on the go, the two made their way to precinct one where they touched base with Bogo, who seemed quite positively surprised that the pair was standing already.

“...but next time you plan to ambush a mammal five times your size, call for backup first” Bogo noted, his stern tone leaving neither Nick nor Judy in any doubt about whether Bogo meant business.

“Yes sir – though in our defence, then we had no idea that we’d be going up against a hardened criminal. We thought we were catching either an unwitting drug-mule or a random identity thief, not one of the rams from Bellwether’s nighthowler lab” Judy interjected with humble persistence. Nick nodded, his slight frown betraying his own disappointment in how the sting had turned out.

“Understood – it can be difficult to predict what kind of mammal you’ll come up against in this line of work – but didn’t it occur to you to ask the shopkeep who had delivered the drugs last time?” Bogo said with folded hooves as he leaned in over his desk.

Nick cleared his throat: “We did – he didn’t know. The first purchase was done by the store’s owner, who is currently on vacation with her phone turned off. She signed on the first shipment, we checked”

Bogo made a slow groan as he reclined in his big office chair: “Right, make sure to note that in your report on this. Also, no strenuous physical activity for the next three days, and Wilde; You’re checking in for a full medical in a week to get a status update on your arm - dismissed”

“Yessir, and if anything happens in the meantime this little jingle-jangle will keep me covered” Nick said, displaying his medical bracelet with a wide smile... but his smile instantly faded as Bogo shot him a grim look that practically screamed that the Chief had seen far too many officers wearing those not recover fully.

Leaving Bogo’s office, Nick shivered: “Ok, that was a chilly glare”

“Don’t try to brag about you getting hurt – this isn’t the first time I’ve had one of these on” Judy said, sounding kind but tired, pawing at her own medical bracelet.

“You two! Hey” Oats called out, his hooves stomping down the hallway. The detective looked winded.

Apparently the detective had just gotten word that Nick and Judy were back – and the good detective had something the two needed to follow up on: “The van your delivery driver left – it was full of Feralove capsules and packages! No sign of where they were to be delivered, but the van itself is registered to a delivery company and when I asked them they told it wasn’t stolen... they said it was checked out by its driver yesterday morning and that he hadn’t come back or returned their calls”

“Wait, so our ram actually works for this company?” Judy asked, trying to keep up.

Oats nodded excitedly: “Exactly – and I you two need to go there, find out for how long he’s been there and get me a copy of his employment records. If we can ID this ram it might just be the break we need to find the other two you met in those metro tunnels”

Nick found the fifty-something horse’s enthusiasm oddly endearing – this was clearly a case that was lighting Oat’s fire. Good – for it had been doing the same to Nick for a while already.

The address for the company wasn’t difficult to find, and as they approached the two saw many vans similar to the one at the Spices of Love with the same big green lettering and logo: ISSL – Inter-Species Shipping and Logistics.

“Inter-species shipping? Really? Is that so special?” Judy said, not really seeing the business potential in such a concept. Or the amount of erotica it could result in.

Nick shrugged: “It’s repackaging and rescaling. An elephant scale crate can have its contents parted up into a million hamster sized ones – and not all businesses have the mammal-power to do that kind of work – its honest work, boring, but honest”

The manager at the warehouse shit herself the instant Judy let on that one of her drivers had been involved with Bellwether and was part of the more recent spur of feral mammals popping up around the city. After letting the poor badger with her trigger happy bowels clean herself up, she happily let Nick and Judy poke around in their employee database.

The information Nick and Judy found was quite revealing: The driver paired with the van they had taken into evidence was indeed the ram they were looking for. The employee records photo was without a doubt a picture of the the same gravely-voiced grey-wooled ram they had tangled with on the train-lab in the Zootopia underground two years ago.

Nick could hardly stop fist-pumping when Judy looked up the registered home address of the ram: “Hold on... this is the address for that dingo cub!”

“Wait what? Aww fluff you’re breaking my heart here... that probably means that the name they have on record for him is also fake” Nick lamented, seeing the quick and easy solution to their case disappear before his eyes.  
  
Judy looked around on the employee database page for the ram a bit more: “Yes the name is probably fake too – but the social security number isn’t. It says here he’s paid just like everyone else: Via the standard account tied to his social security number, and the dingo cub didn’t have any bank account to his name when his identity was stolen”

“Would that make the name for him here real too?” Nick said hopefully.

Jumping down from the desc, Judy shook her head: “No, come to think of it – Bellwether could just have added that social security number to the public records herself, with the fake name. But it did say that he was hired a little under three years ago, which gives us an actual timeframe for when Bellwether started working with them”

Nodding, Nick found himself pondering: “But assuming that all three rams from the lab were hired by Bellwether at the same time, that would only give the cook and shooter a little under six months to develop the nighthowler poison at ZU”

Tapping her foot onto the cold hard cement, the soft hum and whirr of the automated warehouse freight-crane zipping back and forth in the background the other only real noise around them, Judy finally said: “I don’t think they invented the poison at ZU – at least not the cook we’re looking for. He probably just followed Bellwether’s instructions to create the strain on that machine”

“So you think Bellwether had the poison itself researched somewhere else?” Nick pondered, finding the implications quite unsettling.

Shrugging, Judy hopped over to the printer for the copy of the ram’s records she had made the computer churn out: “No idea, but if you’re inventing a new poison to make mammals go savage then it would be really silly to... I don’t know, have them die from it instead? They must have tested it somewhere, but I checked the records on that: There were no incidents of savage mammals before Bellwether started her terror campaign”

“That just means they didn’t let their test subject run free – I can think of a lot of public institutions where it wouldn’t be difficult to disappear a mammal down to the basement and experiment on them – but ok, so if this guy’s social security number comes up fake then we’re back to square one?” Nick supposed, well aware that it was in no way the outcome they had hoped for.

The bunny cop drew a heavy breath, sighing: “Yes Nick – but at least we’ve stopped them from using this delivery service as cover to move around the city unnoticed”

“True”

The badger manager was pleased that Nick and Judy had found what they were looking for, and added in passing as Nick and Judy was about to leave that she terminated the ram’s employment while they had looked in the employment records.

Back at Precinct one Oats was happy hear of the revelation about the ram and the timeline it set up for Bellwether’s entire operation – but at the same time, then the lack of any solid leads on where to actually find the rams did sour the victory a good deal.

“Tell you what, I’m waiting for a few inquires to report back on some other leads I’m looking into – if you two go back on regular patrol rotation then I’ll call you when I have something, shouldn’t be long” Oats noted from behind his desk, typing with great speed.

And so Nick and Judy returned to their regular beat, driving around Zootopia and responding to whatever dispatch sent them off to do. It was the next week when Oats called Nick and Judy into his office again:

The brown-coated horse looked tired, not sleepy tired, but ‘I have been galloping around just a little too much today’ tired, as Nick and Judy entered his office.

It was quite obvious for Nick that Judy loved visiting the place – she was looking up all the newspaper clippings on the wall of cases Oats had worked on and solved... oh she wanted an office like this bad.

“Great – ok, I got a call back from the printer a few hours ago, they got us an address!” Oats said with strained enthusiasm.

Apparently Oats had worked the packaging of the Feralove capsules: The packaging had been professionally printed, so he had somehow managed to track down the printing business that had made the packaging and through them found where the empty and unfolded but printed cardboard cut-outs had been delivered and signed off on.

“So where are we going?” Judy asked, bursting with hopeful excitement.

The answer she got killed her mood instantly.

“Wait, why would they make and sell something like Feralove?” Judy said incredulously.

Nick shrugged: “Maybe they’re just branching out? Does it matter?”

“I think I once saw my mother wave a brocure frm the place at my dad” Judy said in that uniquely subtly revolted ‘I really don’t want to think about my parents having sex’ tone.

Oats dropped a small stack of printed out documents on his desk: “Moot point – I have the warrants we need. Let’s go”

As the trio drove out towards the Lotus of Love compound, the luxury couples retreat, Nick poked fun at Judy for her initial reaction to wanting to go there. Judy wasn’t thrilled: “Oh stop it – have you seen the ads for the place? That cheetah running the place thinks he’s some kind of sexual prophet”

“And your issue with that is...?” Nick teased, having a fairly good inkling of what Judy’s issue was, but it would simply be so much more fun to make her say it directly.

Judy gripped the steering wheel hard, gritting her teeth: “Everything he is selling is just lifted wholesale out of the Bunny Sutra, rebranded for larger mammals – it’s all built on a lie!”

“Ya who needs quacks like that to spice up your love life? Just sprinkle in some ground pepper or add some chilli oil to your lube when having sex and you’ll have her hooting and hollering in no time!” Oats interjected.

There was a brief moment of silence in the cruiser as Nick and Judy both processed the joke. Nick burst out laughing first – Judy reacted with more of a pained expression: “Oww”

“Damn Oats, didn’t know you had it in you” Nick said, looking over his shoulder to the back seat.

The horse returned Nick’s compliment with a sheepish grin: “It’s not healthy to be too serious – all work and no play and all”

Judy groaned. She had worked with Oats many times previously, but with Nick thrown into the mix... oh those two just gelled far too well for their own good... and there was another three hours of driving to get to the resort.

What’s the idea with placing it in the middle of no-where anyway?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Certains things work better when they develop naturally. Some seek help. Some hire a business. Some use drugs. Some get drugs without wanting it. Will there be any side-effects?

As they drove up the mile long road from the gate to the actual resort within the walled compound, Nick looked at the time. It was almost noon and his stomach was growling: “Hey Oats, how much do you think we’ll be able to do out here today? I mean, its almost lunchtime now, and last I checked we’re still supposed to be back by precinct one to clock out at four”

“Bogo has authorized overtime for this – we’re staying here until we’ve searched the place” Oats declared, pulling out the warrants to check that they were ready to be served the moment they to the main building.

Judy quickly saw a potential flaw in that plan: “Oats, we’re only three – this place is huge – what if they’re here but try to sneak out, we can’t over every exit”

“Don’t worry – I checked up on the security on this place, it’s a fortress: The walls are covered in cameras, and guards walks the outer perimeter, plus you saw the wolves manning the gatehouse; that’s the only way to get a vehicle in or out of here” Oats stated confidently, certain that he had covered all the basics for the place.

“But shouldn’t we still be more? These are hardened criminals – one of them is basically an assassin – this isn’t right” Judy protested, the cruiser making a few tiny leaps ahead as the bunny’s foot-taps hit the speeder.

Nick nodded while Oats remained silent for a few seconds, then drawing a deep breath and answering: “I told you: This place is a fortress – it’s meant to keep the press out, its guests in, and make sure that anyone going in or out are logged and recorded as doing so”

“...it doesn’t have anything to do with all the celebrities and city council members that tend to frequent this place not wanting their spa time interrupted?” Nick chided, recalling more than a few tabloid headlines hinting that the place’s couple therapy was occasionally used as cover for drug rehab for celebrities.

Oats’ facade faltered, if only briefly: “Well, I can’t say for certain, but a few feathers might have been ruffled at city hall when the warrants were processed. Still, even without a large force, then we have been guaranteed the cooperation of the guru and security here – we have hundreds of mammals at our disposal for this”

“Great – but that also means that this guru has had plenty of time to warn the rams and destroy the evidence – and get an army of lawyers to point out that the feralove pills aren’t illegal yet” Judy sighed.

Nick gave Judy a friendly poke on the shoulder: “Hey – even if we can’t nail the guru on that, then he’s been harbouring wanted criminals who worked with Bellwether. Let’s see if that doesn’t make him a little more eager to fork them over to us”

The buildings that made up the resort were a far cry from the rather drab mossy concrete segments that made up the wall around the whole place, for the buildings were done up in the finest of Zootopian architectural finery, all of it screaming “this place makes way too much money”. The alabaster, the gold leaf, the polished wood-work, all of it incorporating a mishmash of fertility and revelry symbols picked from every species known.

Stopping in front of the steps to the main building, Nick and Oats got out while Judy quickly parked the cruiser at a nearby parking spot next to a large flowerbed with a glass sculpture in the middle of it.

From the surrounding hedged gardens near the main building quite a few cries of passion could be heard. It appeared as if the resort had no small number of hopefuls taking ‘lessons’ in how to reignite the passion in their relationships.

Judy just managed to catch to up to Nick and Oats as they got to the front door. The bright noonday sun made it difficult to see anything inside – but suddenly the door swung open, revealing a cheetah with a big smile in a plain white toga: “I am Guru Gupta. Welcome to The Lotus of Love, how may I help you?”

Oats, looking very serious, and flanked by Nick in his aviator shades and Judy all the way down on at the base of the stairs, pulled out the warrants: “We have warrants to search the premises for a trio of wanted criminals and their illegal drug productions operation, plus a host of other things they’re wanted for, including, but not limited to: assault of an officer, attempted murder, terrorism, conspiracy to overthrow and usurp the government of Zootopia, organized crime, buying stolen goods and hacking”

Nick, while having his game face on, had to marvel at how long the list of charges that was ready for the three rams was. In the car ride Oats had gone over it. Apparently the hacking thing was the newest charge added to the list: Oats had gotten some ZPD white hat hackers to examine the Inter-Species Shipping computer system, and had found it compromised by a code injection that had basically made it look like the criminal ram had a full daily delivery schedule every day for years, except the packages he ‘delivered’ never existed, effectively giving the ram an empty van to use every day for about two and a half years.

How this had come about was still a mystery – but since the three had benefited from this criminal compromising of a private computer system, then they were all liable to be punished for it.

The cheetah guru, his smile unwavering, opened his arms as if to hug Oats, but instead turned and gestured for the three to come inside: “Officers, friends. Come inside and I will see that all of your needs and inquiries are seen to”

To Nick, seeing the wide but not toothy smile from the cheetah, the open arms, the friendly gesture, the relaxed tail... he couldn’t help but think of the old adage “Its takes one to know one” – because that cheetah just screamed hustler to Nick. His pose was just a little too stiff, his smile a bit too forced.

The trio followed the cheetah inside, into a very nicely cooled atrium that smelled of wildflowers. The two clerks at the front desk, a young goat and cat, both silently bowed to the cheetah as the four of them walked past. The cheetah in turn made some kind of magnanimous gesture towards the two, like a king sending his serfs back to work with but a single benevolent gesture. Continuing on, his gait was one of a mammal that revelled in second he was the centre of attention.

Though a surprisingly plain door, and subsequently quite non-descript corridors and office spaces, the cheetah led the three to his office, which was surprisingly dull... but then again, his real throne room was in the resort proper amidst his cult of orgiastic ecstasy.

Sitting down, the cheetah kept his loving facade as he observed the warrants: “Ah yes, Swinton called me about these. I can assure you: Nothing illegal goes on here – we might use all natural herbs and oils to stimulate our guests here, but it is by no means illegal or dangerous. I will have security cooperate fully with you if need be”

Oats slammed a hand down on the table with an evidence bag. It had three gel pills in it, from the early busts of feral mammals: “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t consider drugs made from nighthowlers very natural”

It was quite interesting for Nick see how the cheetah’s expressions were subtly shifting around. Was he angry? Calm? Excited? Scared? This joker was really good at masking his real emotions.

“Nothing about using such harmless things is illegal dear friends, and plants are plants – such extracts are perfectly natural” the cheetah maintained, his tone perfectly calm and his composure downright sanguine.

Oats nodded to Judy, who produced a second evidence bag and put it on the table, jumping up on the table: “That’s funny, because that’s not the only pills with this new ‘love drug’, as its makers call it – ever seen these?”

The cheetah looked at the capsules in the evidence bag, breaking one open – the blue goop inside looked exactly like what was visible in the blue gel pills. A few seconds later he shrugged: “We do not use that kind of artificial casings for our herbal extracts here – if you’re looking for pills like that, then you’ve come in vain”

Putting an empty Feralove package on the desk, Judy added: “It came in these. They’re being sold all over Zootopia – and it’s the same nighthowler extract as in your gel pills”

Judy’s tone had been accusatory, but also coy. Nick watched with baited breath for any signs that the guru processed this new bit of information. In his mind he compared it to that one time someone else had tried to copy his pawpsicle hustle – but they hadn’t made sure to keep their storage jars clean, or even clean their paws before making snow-moulds, resulting in pawpsicles with more than a few bits of dirt in them. Calling the cops on them would have been bad form, but the health authorities? Weaselton had hated Nick ever since.

“That double-crossing little shit! He promised me exclusive rights!” the guru exclaimed, his voice agitated and his veneer of enlightened bliss shattering like a hammer to a mirror.

The cheetah stood up, knocking over his own office chair, and stomped out of his office: “Follow me!”

Now, the idea of a big cat stomping was a bit silly – the only noise he made was the soft clicks of his claws against the floral tile mosaics that covered the hallway floors. Following the guru, the three tried to keep pace, but the cheetah wasn’t just fast... he was cheetah-fast, and angry. Trying to slow down the guru a bit by asking questions, Nick inquired about the nature of the guru’s relationship with the drug makers.

“The hornless one and his two friends came to me a year ago, offering me this marvellous love drug. It works amazingly, putting the couple in a magical trance. Once they’ve slept it off they’ve bonded on a truly spiritual level!” the cheetah exclaimed as he slowed down to a very angry swift walk, sounding very much as if he actually believed what he was saying, which also explained his outrage: If the guru actually thought that the drug gave him a monopoly of spiritual love-bonding, then the rams selling the stuff on sly was a big threat to his business and spiritual practices.

To Nick it was curious to see the guru go on about how miraculous this nighthowler drug was, along with a lot of spiritual mumbo-jumbo – ultimately it just showed that the cheetah seriously seemed to believe that those gel-pills really did make mammals fall in love. It occurred to Nick that it might be an idea to ask for some pills to take back to Mulberry so that could be tested, because that kind of effects had not been on Mulberry’s test schedule for sure.

“So, correct me if I’m wrong – your issue right now is that your drug suppliers haven’t stayed exclusive to you?” Judy asked, sensing that the guru’s outrage wasn’t quite adding up.

Opening a door to a staircase, the cheetah groaned: “Drinking too much is bad for you. Not eating for a long time is bad for you. Many things derived from otherwise harmless acts are bad, if not done right. My love medicine is the same – there is a ritual one must set up to avoid trouble! You can’t just sell pills with this miracle and let anyone use it as they see fit!”

“This ritual... it doesn’t happen to involve locking all doors and windows, drawing the blinds, setting out food and water to drink, and taking the pills together with the one you love? Ya... that is in the instruction pamphlet in the Feralove box” Oats noted, sounding just a tiny bit gloating, as he rubbed it in the guru’s face that the cooks had apparently just copied the guru’s “sacred ritual” into their cheap monochrome pamphlet.

With a furious snarl the guru led Oats and the two officers down to a basement level. Past drap walls of cement and locked steels doors, down four or five corridors. At the end, a heavy steel door with an electronic keypad stood – along with a dozen security guards standing at attention, tasers at the ready – they had apparently been waiting for the four to arrive.

How the guru had managed to call for security guards while on the go wasn’t clear, but as Gupta angrily unlocked the door he turned to Detective Oats: “If you want them they’re all yours – nobody betrays my trust and cheapens my spiritual healing and gets away with it!”

The door swung open and revealed... a very large hydroponics lab. There were probably over a hundred hydroponic tables, spread out in rows in what looked to have been a large storage room. The security guards surged in first, followed by the guru and the trio.

Every table had been cleaned out of plants, and Judy quickly pointed out that in one of the rows two hydroponic tables were missing.

One thing Nick quickly noticed was the lack of sleeping arrangements. If the three rams had been living in this place, then it wasn’t in the hydroponics room they were in: “Where did they live?”

The guru looked around, then pointed towards a door which was slightly ajar.

Oats, Nick and Judy quickly grouped up again and had a look.

The door opened up to a short but well-lit corridor, with another steel door at the end, with another keypad.

“Ok, I need all your security out of here – until we know more, then this is a big ol’ crime scene and I don’t want anyone contaminating it any more than necessary – also, what is the code for their bedroom?” Oats called out, the security guards starting to leave instantly.

The guru nodded: “zero-zero-zero-zero, unless they changed it – do you need my presence here anymore? I seriously need to unwind some very muddled chakras...”

Once everyone else was gone, the three took a moment to assess their situation. Oats noted: “They’ve clearly bugged out – taken two of the hydroponics tables with them. Can’t imagine that they’ve left much behind in their bedroom, but who knows...”

The three grouped up at the locked bedroom door, everyone with their tranq gun drawn. Oats punched in the code, and the door clicked... and crept open ever so slightly

...and then something along the ceiling clicked.

The door had been trapped.

Without even knowing what was coming, Nick threw Judy into the bedroom and was mid-crouch for a leap through the door when a puff of blue smoke came down from the ceiling fast.

Oats got most of it – it wasn’t just smoke... it left behind a thin powder coating on everything it touched.

Oh hell – blue powder? Had the rams managed to aerosolize the nighthowler drug?!

The horse detective got a faceful, inhaling a good deal of the stuff in surprise. The pained grunts that Oats almost instantly started to make seemed to answer this question, as did his manic expression and eyes turning yellow.

Nick leapt through the door and both him and Judy nailed Oats with tranq darts before he could fully go savage.

Oats, looking down at his shirt-clad chest with two tranq darts poking out only managed to let out a sigh of relief before he passed out: “Oh thank you...”

Slamming the door behind them, both Nick and Judy stumbled backwards to get away from the little puff of blue powdery smoke that had been dragged along with Nick into the room. It was mortifying to see the blue smoke slowly settle on the ground and spread out, like a bright toxic fog, covering the floor rapidly.

Nick and Judy scrambled up the furniture, Judy leaping up onto a desk, and Nick up on a rather funky smelling bed.

“Did you get any of the stuff on you?” Judy asked franticly. Both she and Nick knew the implications of the ‘wrong’ answer to that question.

Nick looked around for a mirror in the room – there wasn’t any. There were piles of candy wrappers, stacks of treys with dirty dishes and cutlery, mounds of dirty clothes, all scattered around the room – but no mirror: “I can’t tell – I don’t know”

“We just... the powder, it wouldn first make a colored smoke at high concentrations – we could both have been hit by it before it come down in high enough doses for us to see it” Judy said in a markedly worried tone.

Feeling his skin crawl – and entirely unsure if it due to an oncoming nighthowler effect turning him savage, or if it was just fear and anxiety – Nick found it difficult to stand still: “We need cure shots – right now”

“In the cruiser! We just need to get to the parking lot” Judy shot back, looking around the room for another way out. No, that’s a bathroom. No, that’s a closet. No way out other than going through a nighthowler-powder-coated hallway.

The sound of steel table legs grinding against the concrete floor quickly interrupted Judy’s search – Nick was pushing a table two sizes too big for him towards the center of the room. Judy was about to ask, when she looked up: There was a skylight, a window in the ceiling...

Quickly piling a couple more things onto the table, a computer cabinet, some books, and other random things, the two managed to crawl up to the window and break it.

The rain of glass shards hurt – Nick felt a few cuts down his ears and a sting in his tail as well – but the pain only heightened his senses, and gave him the burst of energy needed to scamper up through the window.

As luck would have it they emerged right next to their cruiser. Around them were tall hedges and sounds from all directions, of various groups or couples of resort attendees doing whatever: Some sounded as if they were singing, some made noises akin to the yoga groups Nick and Judy had seen at the Mystic Springs Oasis, others sounded as if they were having lots of and lots of sex – not an entirely unexpected feature of a resort aimed at teaching couples to love each other again.

Judy scrambled over to the cruiser, unlocking it, popping the trunk to get to the med-kit.

Nick looked on, pawing at his cuts from the glass – his skin felt like it was on fire near the cuts... hopefully that glass hadn’t been too dirty: “Come on fluff, I don’t want security to find me halfway through eating you alive!”

The look Judy gave Nick in reaction to his words were at first not shocked, but sorrowful: It was obvious that she had understood the deeper meaning of Nick’s dire warning... he didn’t want to wake up from a savage haze having to learn that he had killed her – but then her face turned to dread: “Nick, your eyes!”

Momentarily distracted by just how much his skin felt as if it was burning, Nick threw a glance at the tinted cruiser windows: His eyes... they had changed: “Carrots where is that damned cure-stick?”

Judy’s nose twitched almost as much as her lips quivered, as she turned the medkit towards Nick and opened it: It had no cure shots left... they had forgotten to restock after the failed Spices of Love sting.

Quickly reaching for his tranq gun, Nick realized that he had fired already it. Patting around on his uniform for new darts, he stopped when Judy put a paw on his: “Does your skin feel like it’s on fire too?”

Her eyes had turned a very telltale shade of dark yellow, and her paw was flinching every other second – just like the pulsating pain he was feeling himself... oh hell.

Nick and Judy looked at each other. They didn’t want things to end like this...

“Judy... why is this taking so long? Every other savage mammal turned so much faster, even Oats got a lot worse than we are in less than a second” Nick said, finding talking uncomfortably difficult. His words came out almost as if hissing – he felt himself starting to drool a bit.

It took a few dread seconds too long for Judy to formulate a reply: “We didn’t get exposed that much... maybe that slows it down?”

That confirmed it... or, enough at least: “Ok Judy – then we’ll have to take a chance on this!”

Nick pulled out the evidence bag with the gel pills and ripped it open, snatching one pill in his mouth and another in his right paw. Judy tumbled backwards, her ears down: “Nick, what are yo-“

Having seized Judy with his right paw, the urge to grip her with his claws feeling oh so right, Nick stuffed the gel pill into Judy’s mouth, forcefully. It actually popped as he forced it against her teeth... then he grabbed her, and threw her over a nearby hedge and dove through it himself.

...if nothing else, he didn’t want him killing her to happen for all to see in a parking lot – too bad about his uniform though.


	9. First among Equals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes strange things happen. Sometimes medical mysteries go un-answered. Sometimes new leads on on-going cases are found. Sometimes those new leads involve more medical mysteries.

This was the second time in a week that Judy had woken up in a hospital bed. Trying to move was... painful – she felt sore all over, including in places that normally only got sore if she and Nick went all the way with their... oh right.

Inching her way into a sitting position, Just slowly opened her eyes. The light felt incredibly bright... and the smell of chemical antiseptics stung in her nose. Looking around, Judy quickly spotted Nick slowly waving back at her: “Hey fluff”

A powerful welling up within her compelled Judy to ignore her pain and try to leap out of the bed to get over to Nick in his bed. She was just so incredibly happy to see Nick and alive and well and felt very much like she wanted to act on that.

“No, Judy – stay put – catheter” Nick quickly said, seeing what Judy was trying to do.

Slowing down, Judy pounded her fists against her mattress, her affection turning into frustration as she saw just how many intravenous tubes and whatnot were going into her – one in her wrist, her catheter, a tube in her... ugh: “Are these all necessary? I don’t feel hurt... throat is a bit sore, but that’s it”

“I know – but the docs said we were out for three days. They removed your feeding tube about fifteen minutes ago when you started to show signs of waking up” Nick said, absentmindedly putting a paw on his own throat.

With both Nick and Judy awake and alert an orderly soon arrived with a big TV on on a wheeled stand – a mobile teleconference rig it turned out. Bogo was apparently too busy to come to the hospital, but wanted a debriefing none the less.

“Sir – if we’ve been out for three days, is Oats ok?” Judy first asked, the image of Bogo on the screen being just a little too zoomed in.

“He’s fine – the guru found him a few hours later and saw darts in him and the powder-coated hallway, called us in. We gave him a cure-shot before he could wake up from the tranquilizers – he’s been coordinating with the CSIs at the resort for the last two days” Bogo noted, appearing as if he was reading from notes off-camera.

Nick had a sudden realization: “Hold on sir – if Oats was up and running in just a day, why were we out for three? Neither of us feel injured, I mean we were in here two, uhm... five days ago – we know how that feels, so why were we out for so long?”

Judy looked very much as if she too wanted to know this.

Bogo very briefly got that miniscule smirk that simply screamed that he truly looked forward to see Nick and Judy’s reactions to what he said next: “Two factors: The gel pills you took – we found the torn evidence bag – were scaled for mammals far bigger than you, so you got an overdose, and secondly ... then you didn’t get a cure shot”

Nick and Judy exchanged confused glances, then both asked in unison: “Why?”

“After the guru found Oats and gave him a cure shot they found you two...” Bogo said, pausing for a moment to carefully word the next part of his sentence: “...under the ‘influence’ of the love drug – but the guru convinced Oats not to tranq you, even if you had gotten massive overdoses”

Judy’s ears and cheeks burned red so hard that she feared she’d catch fire: “They... saw us?”

“Yes – and I’ve ordered his body-cam footage of that destroyed. We don’t need that kind of smut on our servers. Still, it was good thinking, using the lesser drug to avoid going savage. There’s no telling how many of the resort guests would have gotten hurt had that happened” Bogo added, sounding somewhere between satisfied of the result and dissatisfied that they were found in the state they were.

Nick had only been awake a short while longer than Judy, so he too was still regaining his senses, but there was one thing that still bothered him: “Sir, why did the guru stop Oats from giving us cure shots?”

“He claimed that the cure is a shock to your system, which makes you forget what happened while you were feral – so... do you remember anything?” Bogo stated, his inflection and tone unmistakably framing his words as a question of great importance.

It was strange: Nick and Judy both ‘knew’ that all the savage mammals that they had found back during the Bellwether case, once they got cured, had no memory of being savage – their last memeories had been of being hit by the nighthowler pellet. For all the feral mammals they had caught, darted and given a shot, they had not been willing to say anything... but none of them had seemed confused over what had happened to them either – had they been warned that a cure shot would wipe their memories of the drug use?

At the same time, then neither Nick or Judy had ever tried to go savage or feral before – so they didn’t really have much to compare the experience to – but equally, being asked if they could remember what had happened after they had taken the gel pills... it was as if being asked “Do you remember eating lunch yesterday?” – it just felt odd, because of course they remembered, for they hadn’t thought that they wouldn’t or shouldn’t be able to remember.

Looking at Judy, Nick nodded – Judy nodded in return – Nick then looked back at the teleconference camera: “We do sir, but... I don’t think we want to talk about that with nurses and doctors listening – but we’ll submit a report once we’re out of here”

The nurses and doctors clustered at the door – many of them looking very disappointed that they wouldn’t be there to hear the very testimony of a mammal who remembered being under the influence of nighthowler drugs.

Bogo nodded: “Very well – and do try to not make your report into something out of a romance novel. Just the facts. Professor Mulberry and the rest of the research team is also curious to hear about this – now, is there anything else, or can we end this here?”

Nick pondered for a moment, while Judy was much quicker to speak up: “The guru has a big cache of the nighthowler love drug. Mulberry told us that he needs more to properly test it – perhaps we could...?”

“Oats already set that up – along with relaying to the scientists how the guru has been using the drug at the resort. If this stuff is a legit lovedrug...” Bogo said, his words hinting of an unspoken question directed at Nick and Judy.

It was strange to think of – neither Nick or Judy felt any different towards each other – but then they had very much liked each other before their drug trip.

“I think we’ll need a little time to ‘compare notes’ before we can confirm or deny that effect – we can talk about it when we’re back at the precinct” Nick quickly said, spotting that Judy looked just a little too unsure to play along if he started talking about it at the moment.

With that the teleconference was ended, and a team of curious doctors came in, wanting to poke and prod Nick and Judy. They mainly wanted to see about reactions to having been exposed to an ‘overdose’ of this lesser nighthowler drug, especially since they were allowed to sleep it off instead of just getting a cure shot.

Once the doctors were satisfied that the two were of both sound mind and body Nick and Judy were discharged.

At Nick’s place the two finally breathed a sigh of relief. Twice in the hospital within the space of a week – drugged, immobile for three days... neither needed rehabilitation that much, but they still felt weak from the inaction. A good evening of watching movies, munching bacon to said movies, tenderly stretching their limbs, and talking out how they were going to word their report to weave in their ‘new found’ love for each other, hit the spot in so many ways.

It took a day or so before Nick and Judy’s report was done, and after submitting it they barely even had time to count the seconds before all of Precinct One shook with Bogo calling for the two to get their fuzzy butts up to his office...

“What is this...” Bogo asked, pointing to a printout of their resport.

Nick looked at Judy, who shrugged.

“We wrote as your ordered sir – stuck to the facts. It was a hell of a ride, and now that we’ve had a little time to actually talk with each other about how we feel... well” Nick began, reaching a paw out to Judy, who reached up and grabbed it, like any other generic boyfriend offering to hold paws wAith his girlfriend.

Bogo groaned, deeply, and for quite a while. He had seen a lot officers injured in the line of duty. He had seen good cops stabbed, shot, exposed to dangerous chemicals – there was even that time in the rainforest district with the gang that used blowpipes with darts tipped with hallucinogenic frog poison, which had left Officer Mouscarelli with a permanent fear of needles and tiny flying fluffy things, but officers falling in love due to a drug overdose?

Nick felt Judy’s paw tighten around his. He didn’t dare look away from Bogo – this was make or break for their relationship... or at least their working relationship.

“The union will have my horns if I punish you for injuries sustained in the line of duty...” Bogo quietly said to himself as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Both Judy and Nick’s ears perked up at this.

“Ok, you two will keep whatever you’re feeling for each other under wraps – if the media catches on to this my hands will be tied, but what you do while off duty is none of my business. So to make this clear: I am ‘politely’ encouraging you to both to be discreet here” Bogo said, his face turning into the kind of face Judy had grown to know as Bogo’s “Please don’t let this become a media circus” face.

Both breathing a sigh of relief, Nick had to reign himself in to now thank Bogo for this – but he opted not, seeing as it was clear that Bogo wasn’t entirely happy with the situation. He figured that Judy was thinking the same: “We’ll keep it under wraps sir”

As they left Bogo’s office they could hear him quietly bemoan: “This will be the stranges workmans-comp dispensation I’ve ever have to write up...”

The next day Nick and Judy were called into Oat’s office first thing in the morning. The detective had been busy with wrapping up the investigation of the resort, and both Nick and Judy were curious to see what had happened in the days they had been asleep.

Sadly there wasn’t much to tell: Oats could confirmed with the resort’s gate logs that the three rams had left together in a small truck late in the evening on the same day that Nick and Judy had their attempted sting at the Spices of Love.

“So they bugged out – and that gives them what, almost a week’s head start? How are we going to find them?” Judy lamented.

Oats agreed that it wasn’t an ideal situation – but explained that the research team had managed to produce their first crops of the genetically engineered nighthowler flowers, of both of the new strains that the rams had created in that machine at the ZU biology department basement: “Mulberry said they were running their initial tests a few days ago, and maybe some follow-up trials todays – but I haven’t heard from him. Why don’t you two go check up on him, instead of us sitting around waiting for a report to come in”

Nick agreed that this was a good plan: “If they’re trying to sell this third kind of nighthowler drug just like their love drug, then... ya, if we can find out what it does, we can look around for it and try to track them down that way”

“Exactly – though from what the CSIs could tell then they were growing all three kinds of nighthowlers at their lab under the resort, so either way they’re down to only two hydroponics tables, and whatever other gear they put in that truck they drove off in” Oats said, quickly flipping through the inventory lists the CSIs had made.

Judy gestured for attention: “Hold on – in that inventory list there, what kind of fertilizer did they use? And was any of that missing as well?”

“You think they brought some with them? Makes sense if they did” Nick said, not seeing why that would be a detail worth mentioning.

Judy recalled her many years at her parents’ farm: “Hydroponics tables like that are for making things grow really fast – it requires a lot of fertilizer. Even if they brought some with them, then I bet they’ll run out soon. If they’re using any special kind of fertilizer, then we could try to see where they could get more of it... because the sacks of fertilizers I remember seeing at the lab were brands that only sell to other businesses – we’ll need to find any regular brands that normal mammals can get for their gardens that can double as fertilizers for GMO nighthowlers. I’m thinking plant nurseries and flower shops”

Both Oats and Nick were impressed – and both agreed that this would be another possible way to track the rams.

“Well, as far as I know the fertilizer they are using in the ZU lab for this is a kind of orchid fertilizer” Oats noted, looking at the crime scene inventory list.

Judy beamed with joy: “Yes – orchid fertilizer is always special made – and not that many places carry stuff like that. We just need to confirm what retail brands works the same way. I don’t think there’s more than a dozen vendors of stuff like that in Zootopia”

“Excellent – perhaps Mulberry can tell you exactly what brand of fertilizer they used when they grew their new nighthowler crops?” Oats suggested.

The drive to ZU was uneventful. The traffic around noon was average, at the campus there students by the tens of thousands milling about going from class to the dining halls for lunch.

They found Mulberry in a lab not far from his office. He looked distraught, though the door to his office was ajar so Nick and Judy just let themselves in. The office smelled of greasy goodness – and a bread toaster loaded with slices of printed bacon was sizzling away over in a corner.

“Hey, got a minute?” Judy asked, knocking on the doorframe.

An annoyed oink from Mulberry heralded his indifferent response, his voice revealing that he was eating something at the moment: “My office hours are on Tuesday – I’m busy”

“Does that mean that we came all the way out here from Precinct One in vain?” Nick quipped, having picked up on Mulberry not being aware of who they were.

The pig spun around on his office chair, his face full of bacon ‘crumbs’: “Ah, you two – here for a refill?”

Grabbing a fist-full of fried bacon, Mulberry offered up his bounty freely. Nick gladly accepted, packing the goods away in a napkin.

“Ok, now – we’re here about the tests you’ve made on the new nighthowler strain we found on that genetic changing machine. Do you have any news on that?” Judy asked, finding Nick’s expression not unlike that of a kit in a candy-store who just got a big bag of sweets thrust upon him.

Mulberry perked up at the mention of the new strain: “Oh yes, we did phase zero step testing yesterday – very interesting results, very worrying too – not sure if the ethics committee will allow any more mammal testing on that stuff for the time being”

Before Nick or Judy could ask, the porky professor swivelled around on his office chair and clicked up on some videos on his computer. It was test surveillance videos, recordings of the step-dose test.

Quickly explaining what they were looking at, Mulberry noted: “A step-dose test is where we test the required dose of a compound or chemical to have an actually noticeable effect on something. You basically have a bunch of test subjects, and give one a very low dose, the next one a slightly higher dose, and so on”

“Is that safe?” Nick wondered – thinking that testing unknown drugs on mammals sounded a bit... shady.

The pig claimed that it was – mainly because preliminary tests of the active components in the third strain had revealed it to be made of non-toxic elements: They had known what the proteins and toxins in the mix was, and knew that none of it was lethal, at least not in the concentrations they were using for the tests.

The video that Mulberry showed was from test 1290B, which showed a young stag sitting in a fairly small room that featured a small table with a drawer and chair, along with a worn-looking rug. The camera had clearly been mounted in the ceiling, judging from the angle it was looking down on the stag.

“Please continue with the produce” a voice said, rattling out of a slightly wonky intercom system linked to the room. The stag nodded, and sat down on the chair.

A research assistant came into the room carrying a small box which was put on the table. The research assistant, a young mammal – it was difficult to see what species from the angle in the video – opened the box, and stated for the record: “Commencing dermal stimulus test three”

From the box the research assistant then withdrew a series of gizmos – some looking like really work out and jagged pizza cutters, that he used to poke and prod the young buck.

Fast forwarding through the video, it was clear that the buck was really bored. Mulberry stopped at a point where it looked like the buck and the research assistant were arguing. The research assistant was annoyed that the buck had tried to grab some of the test equipment: “Please put that back – you haven’t been trained in how to use these”

“Please, it’s a scalpel – it’s not that complicated, and like I’ve told you a million times this doesn’t hurt!” the buck said, as he started to stab himself in his left arm.

The video footage was quite clear and crisp, showing in vivid colors as crimson blood spilled onto the table and splattered over the research assistant. Other mammals quickly swarmed the room, restraining the buck.

This was the end of the video.

“Ok... that went from science documentary to horror movie very quickly – what happened?” Nick slowly said, genuinely not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

Drawing a deep breath, Mulberry closed the video: “We confirmed this with a few other test subjects, thought after that stag we stopped testing the drug all together – our hypothesis so far is that the drug does exactly the opposite of what we had expected”

Apparently the ‘active’ compounds in the third strain were known to biologists and neuro-chemists for being related to fear. It was a mix that closely simulated the same things that a mammal brain would release if frightened – it wasn’t the exactly the same, and Mulberry spared Nick and Judy from going over the exact chemistry, but suffice to say that the research team that Mulberry was part of had thought that the drug would make its users very easy to frighten, to the point of locking them in a permanent state of terror.

“Well that’s not what the stag did...” Judy said, sounding very much as if she was trying to hold her true reaction back.

As the video had shown, or at least partially shown, then the drug simply blocked fear – fear of what others thought of you, fear of you getting or being hurt... it simply completely shut down the part of the mammal mind that in any way said “No, you shouldn’t do that because bad stuff might happen”

This was at least the preliminary conclusion that the research team had drawn from their test results. More testing was needed, but it would have to be done far more carefully – since the effects of the drug basically rendered the mammal affected into a sociopath who didn’t mind hurting others or herself.

“We won’t be able to write a proper report until we’ve fully uncovered the effects of the drug – but we do know that the cure works on it, though a higher dose than normal is required – oh and the stuff doesn’t wear off like the second strain did on you two, we still have to run tests on that by the way” the professor added, looking worried but at the same time also excited to explore these unknown aspects of mammal neuro-chemistry.

Leaving the professor to mull over his research, Nick and Judy reported the preliminary findings to Bogo – who for reasons that were fairly obvious, wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of Zootopia’s criminals getting access to a drug that made them fearless and inured to pain.

“With this information – do you have any ideas where to look for mammals that might already be using this drug? That was the plan you two and Oats agreed on, wasn’t it?” Bogo asked over the radio.

Judy appeared unsure. A drug like that, with an effect so strange yet simple, where would anyone need something like that?

Nick looked as if he had an idea as he grabbed the radio mike: “I think I know a place chief – we’ll file a report tomorrow , but we’ll need to go right now before their office closes for today”

The chief agreed to this, while Judy looked a bit confused: “So... where am I driving?”

“Let me find it on the GPS... here, at the corner of Pack street and Fifth Bulleward – the biggest bouncer service in Zooptia: Ironhorn Security”


	10. Courage of Tigers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different kind of nighthowler drug is investigated... but its effects have proven quite frightful - how will a long-term user react when confronted?

The way Nick saw it, then the bouncers that stood at the doors of the various nightclubs, bars and other places around Zootopia were the single most frequently intimidated and assaulted demographic profession in the city. Judy found this to be a reasonable assessment – to which Nick proposed that if any bouncer was having issues with that, then a drug that made you fearless would be just the thing.

“You sure? What about... I don’t know – criminal gangs?” Judy suggested, finding it difficult to come up with other businesses or mammals that might want to become permanently fearless and able to ignore any kind of pain.  
Nick shrugged as the two got out of their cruiser: “The rams we’re after are trying to set up steady revenue streams. Legit ones. The Feralove would have flown completely under the radar if it hadn’t been for the mammals not using the guru’s pills right who put us on the trail”

“You’re right – we should ask Oats if he knows whether the guru put written instructions in with the pills he gave mammals to take home...” Judy said, arching her back as she looked at the rather plain and non-descript front offices of Ironhorn Event Security. It was an almost sadly generic concrete and glass office building, with the sign out in front revealing that dozens of companies had their offices inside.

As they paced the halls of the building looking for the right office, Nick added: “Even with the guru’s pills – we wouldn’t have gotten a break in the case if the rams hadn’t gotten greedy and broken their exclusivity deal, selling Feralove to all those herbal stores. I mean, imagine fluff, if we only had the few cases of gel-pill users to work with. The guru would eventually have heard of them and trained the mammals who came to him to use the stuff correctly, and then we’d have nothing to go on at all”

Judy agreed that they had gotten lucky with the way things had played out, though right now they needed to be just as lucky with the bouncer rental.

The secretary in the front office was a slim young deer buck who seemed quite happy to sit and polish his finger hoof bits while occasionally nodding and taking notes from whatever mammal was talking to him on the phone via his bluefang headset.

It took Judy jumping up on the buck’s desk to get the secretary’s attention and make him put his call on hold: “Hi, Judy Hopps, ZPD – we’re here because we have some questions and were hoping that you could answer them”

“Awww man, did you catch another bouncer juicing or something?” the buck whined, sounding very much as if that was a very common thing for IES’s employees to get caught doing, whatever juicing was.

Judy, not familiar with the gym-vernacular for taking steroids, made a friend gesture towards the buck: “No, you see, me and my partner, we’re looking for mammals who might have taken a... at the moment not illegal drug that sort of makes you, well... fearless – because the mammals making that drug are wanting in connection with some other unrelated but very serious cases”

The buck took a moment to process what Judy had said, plus he leaned over his desk to confirm Nick’s presence: “So... ok, we haven’t done anything wrong right? No need to call our lawyers?”

“Are we here to arrest anyone? No we are not. We don’t even have any warrants, though we can get one if you want one. We just want to know if any of IES’s bouncers somehow showed really great improvement, like, really great, over the last six months” Nick explained, trying to rephrase the request in the most ‘lawyers aren’t needed’ way.

The buck nodded and began typing on his computer behind the desk: “Ok cool...but, not cool – like, our bouncers aren’t supposed to take stuff to make them work any better – IES has a zero tolerance policy to performance enhancing drugs, no matter what it is, unless you have a note from your doctor, and even then...”

Taking a seat in what looked like a client waiting area, while the buck looked through IES’s performance evalution records, Nick and Judy conversed on what could possibly be ‘legit’ performance enhancing drugs, like the ones you could get a doctor’s note for.

Nick’s position was one of incredulity: “If you’re sick enough to need meds you shouldn’t be bouncing and that’s that”

“I dunno, some of my siblings get chronic hay-fever – and the stuff they took during summer and fall said it’s was kind of steroid, to strengthen your lungs” Judy noted, drawing on her experiences with her family back home in Bunnyburrow.

Craning his neck a little as he pondered that little anecdote, Nick ultimately nodded: “To strengthen the lungs or something, right – I guess that would make you show up as a positive on a drug t-“  
“Hey you two, I think I found one” the buck called from the desk next door.

The printout that the buck handed Nick and Judy gave them a name and an address: “Can’t give you the full file we have, confidentiality and whatnot, but if you need it you can just get a warrant – but this should be enough I think”

“Ok, and what makes you think she fits the bill for what we’re looking for?” Judy inquired, looking at the name and address. It was in the rainforest district.

The buck looked back at his monitor for a moment: “Right, well – it says here she was scheduled for firing about five months ago. She had screwed up at a gig where she got intimidated into letting in a bunch of party crashers that had beef with the host. A big brawl broke out. Shrink said she had lost her nerve”

“Big brawl five months ago at a private party – was that the Pepperton birthday event? I was one the officers who got called out to respond to that” Judy wondered out loud, recalling the dozens of arrests she took part in that evening, as well as the hundreds of bruised and scratched mammals that needed help once the brawl had been stopped...

The buck nodded: “That’s the one – it was such a mess. The boss was pissed! We were liable for the damages because it was our bouncers who had messed up, cost us so much money you wouldn’t believe!”  
“And you’re saying she somehow rebounded from that and didn’t get fired?” Nick asked, curious about how the IES had judged her to have improved.

Nodding enthusiastically, the buck explained in an oddly sassy and quite possibly fabulous manner: “Ya totally – she was given her two week’s notice, but three days before that was up she came in and asked for another evaluation. She didn’t just ace it, she broke the record, like totally”

Elaborating on the evalution procedure, the buck added that it was basically a test where the mammal being tested had to prevent a group of mammals from going through a door... without ever touching them. It was a test of intimidation – going both ways. Apparently this tigress had managed to stare down three of IES’s toughed elephant bouncers.

“I tell you, the type of glare she could make – murderous – she was fearless! Compared to how much of a scaredy-cat she had been two weeks before that... if a drug did that I think the boss might make an exception on company policy. I mean we have her on all the gigs with big mammals these days” the buck regaled, sounding very excited and impressed.

“Excellent – she sounds like just our ticket. And again, she’s not in any trouble, we just need to know who she got the drugs from – and are you sure that there’s no other bouncers you have on staff that fit this description?” Judy said, making ready to bug out and head to the rainforest district.

Absentmindedly stroking his horns, the buck shrugged: “Nah, not within the last six months – three years ago Hans got his cool back after paid migration, but that was after his wife gave birth”

Leaving for the rainforest district, Nick and Judy quickly found the address they had been given – though it was with some trepidation that Judy stepped up to knock on the door. If this tigress had been under the influence of this fearless flavour of nighthowlers for almost half a year then there was no telling how she would react to being questioned about her drug habit or who and where she got her drugs from. This of course also presumed that she was using any kind of drugs to begin with... and Mulberry hadn’t said anything about the long-term effects of the drug, mainly since they had barely known of it for more than a week.

Under the artificial rain of the district and the big umbrella that Nick was holding up, the two approached the door to the tigress’s tree-top apartment.

Two knocks later and the dynamic duo found themselves face to face with a somewhat nonplussed looking tigress wearing a moist wifebeater and track shorts: “Who are you and what do you want?”

The first thing that struck Nick and Judy was the lack of reaction. Usually mammals would have a slightly more surprised reaction when they opened the door and saw cops – either one of being surprised and spooked or alternately happy to see them, in cases where they had called the police. Apathy? Apathy was a very uncommon reaction.

“Hi, I’m Officer Judy Hopps, this is my partner Nick, we were hoping that you could answer a few questions for us if you’re willing and able?” Judy asked, sounding just a bit too cheerful and positive for it not to sound fake.

The tigress didn’t seem to care, sounding mostly annoyed over her interrupted training regiment: “Will it take long? I was exercising”

“No not at all – this can be done in just five minutes if we’re quick” Nick quickly noted.

The initial questions for the tigress were quickly gone over and recorded, Judy taking notes just the same while Nick did the talking: “For the record, your name?”

“My name is Nichole Fewpaw” the tigress said, her hinting of a... not disinterest, but indifference, to the question.

As the topic of whether she was taking any kind of drugs or medication at the moment was broached, Nick prefaced his question by noting that neither him or Judy was there to give Nichole any grief – they just needed information for a case they were working on: “So again, this stuff isn’t illegal, so you’re not in any kind of trouble if you admit to taking it”

“Then yes, I do – but I don’t want my employer to know” Nichole stated very matter-of-factly, as if asked if she occasionally wore blue T-shirts.

The cold and disinterested tone of the tigress was becoming more and more obvious, and to Nick it was equally quickly becoming evident that the tigress would answer anything he asked as long as she could rationalize that it wouldn’t get her in trouble – there was little to no hesitation in her answers, only brief pauses to think.

She was clearly not afraid of anything she was saying to them... as if she was truly fearless.

“Ok then, well we would love to know where you got those drugs from – because we have a very strong suspicion that the mammals making them are wanted in connection with a lot of other stuff” Nick followed up, finding it difficult to believe that the tigress was being this cooperative – it was becoming rather eerie.

This time the tigress’s thinking pause lasted more than long enough to spill into hesitation. It was impossible for Nick to get a read on her, as Nichole’s face was completely devoid of the usual tells and minute twitches that would indicate an active thought process.

Finally the tigress’s ears perked up: “If I tell you, will I still be able to get more of the stuff?”

Nick struggled not to pull a smile – the tigress’s priorities were now so obvious: She had hesitated because she didn’t want her supply to run out... wait, did that mean that the drugs wore off? Mulberry hadn’t said anything about that: “Hold on – are you saying that the effect of the stuff wears off? We thought it was permanent”

Nichole let out a bemused chortle – the first humorous reaction Nick and Judy had seen so far from the tigress – and said: “I wouldn’t be buying the buying my pills weekly if that was the case... it wears off after three or four days, then I get the spooks again”

“I’m sorry, the spooks?” Judy cut in, suddenly very curious about the tigress’s exact motivation for taking the drugs.

The tigress explained quite bluntly that the pills made her stop being afraid, confirming that she was taking the drugs for the fearlessness effect – but at the same time she had some rather bad news: “...but I usually buy them at my favourite gym near Hornswoggle and Capricon, but the ram I usually buy from wasn’t there yesterday. He is usually always there on time, and he’s not answering the number I had for him”

Neither Nick nor Judy were surprised to hear that, considering that the three rams were on the lamb. This probably also meant that any hopes of catching one of the rams dealing the stuff were out of the question...

Disappointed, Nick and Judy left and reported their findings at precinct one.

Bogo’s reaction to hearing that a mammal under the influence of the third type of nighthowler drug was not acting crazy was... mixed.

“Are you certain that she isn’t any kind of threat to society in her current state?” Bogo asked again, looking at Nick and Judy with piercing eyes.

Nick squirmed a little on his chair, feeling buffalo-butt’s harsh judgement coming down hard.

Judy remained certain in her convictions: “She was no more dangerous than a pain-killer addict. IES wouldn’t keep her on payroll if she was getting violent, and with the rams on the run she’ll run out of the nighthowler pills eventually. She needs therapy for whatever is making her scared, that’s about it”

Bogo sat down, heavily: “This would make it the first time that an addict ever spoke so freely about their drug habit and dealer – are you certain that she wasn’t simply lying to you?”

“No sir, her face, her voice – it was obvious that she was on something. Her only hang-up was whether she’d be able to maintain her supply if she gave up her dealer” Judy replied, sitting firmly with her paws her in lap and her ears up straight.

Looking down at their report, the chief furrowed his brows furiously – but there was at the same time an obvious hint of displeasure in the way his frown followed up on his brows.

“Sir, I have no doubt that in her state it would be a lot easier to rationalize mauling someone... but at the same time then nothing she said or did indicated any kind of reduced mental capacity: She was cold, calculating, and well aware of the consequences of her actions – she even said that she didn’t want her work to find out that she was taking anything, and wouldn’t talk until we let her know that the nighthowler drug was not illegal to take” Nick said, empathizing with his boss’ trepidation.

The buzz of Bogo’s phone signalled that Clawhauser was on the line. Sighing, Bogo gave Nick and Judy a final nod of approval: “Very well – first thing tomorrow I want you two to report what you found to Mulberry. Long term effects of this drug variant will probably be interesting to him. After that I want you to work this therapeutic drug-use angle – I’m sure there are other paranoid mammals out there who would love to take a pill to make their fears and anxieties go away”

Leaving as Bogo took the call, Nick and Judy discussed this new angle the chief wanted them to work.

In the precinct lounge, while Judy poured herself an oversized cup of coffee, Nick mulled over this new angle: “I don’t think it’ll work... anti-anxiety meds and the kind of chill pills that paranoids take go through pharmacies. You need a strong papertrail to get your products in there... you can’t hustle them with a fake business front”

“Talking from experience Nick?” Judy joked, peeking up from her enormous cup of coffee.

Walking over to Judy with a doughnut taken from the big box Clawhauser had put in the break room, Nick dunked it into Judy’s coffee: “No fluff, but I have met try-hard dealers who messed with relabeling some of their junk and sell their uppers to tourists and normies... trust me, their turn-over rate is as high as their careers tend to be short – ZDEA busts them all the time”

“Right, and you never dabbled in anything that would get you busted” Judy noted in a somewhat surly tone, looking down into her coffee cup at all the doughnut crumbs floating around. Her nose was twitching.

“Anywho – I figure we email our report to Mulberry now, call it a day, then start poking around where-ever paranoids get their meds tomorrow” Nick mused, enjoying his coffee-dunked doughnut.

Judy poured her coffee down the sink over at the break room counter: “Nick, pharmacies and dispensaries have really good CCTV coverage – dealers stay well away from those”

Nodding, Nick chewed his doughnut thoughtfully: “Ok, what about emergency-rooms? They would know what mammals are overdosing on – use that to track down some dealers, then see if any of them will tell on any new drugs eating up their market shares. Nothing makes a snitch like giving up your competition”

While Judy pondered how she could explain to Nick just how impossible it would likely be to get drug-dealers to turn informants on a new drug that might not even actually be sold right now... and if so they didn’t even know where the drug was being sold right now, if at all. If the rams hadn’t gone into hiding already, then they likely weren’t dealing out in the open right now – and if they had any other patrons or new partners that were hiding them... ugh... it just seemed so impossible.

“Hello? Fluff, you there?” Nick called out for the fourth time.

Judy perked up, snapping back into reality: “What?”

Nick waved his smartphone at Judy: “I emailed Mulberry our report, he responded like five seconds after I sent it – he wants a copy of our body-cam footage from our interview with that tigress, says he needs to see her expressions and stuff for the research team he’s part of. Also seven new smilies I have never seen before”

“We can’t just send that over an open email, there are security rules about handling stuff like that. We’ll need to pop by IT, copy the recordings on a secure drive and then take it ourselves” Judy said, rubbing her brows. The security protocol was bothersome, but city hall had long ago decreed very high security standards for handling body-cam footage to avoid leaks and hackings.

Nick groaned, putting his phone back into its pocket: “Come on carrots, you’re killing me here... IT doesn’t do anything this late in the afternoon. I mean, we can submit a request ticket now, but there’s no telling when they’ll have that something like that ready”

Judy shot Nick a wide smirk: “Oh you’ve encountered the joy that is government IT as well? Ya, they’re not quick like the DMV”

Nick steadied himself on the break room counter, taking a deep breath: “We’re precinct one’s most junior officers. We’ll be at the bottom of the to-do pile for them”

“I don’t know – telling that this was in connection to a follow-up case on the nighthowlers seemed to motivate them” Judy noted, looking at the reply she just on her smartphone.

Nick glared at Judy with no small amount of incredulity: “When did you send that ticket?”

“Thirty seconds ago, while you complaining?” Judy said smugly.

Nodding in respect of her ability to maintain focus and keep her hopes up, Nick said: “Smart bunny”

“Dumb fox” Judy replied with a bemused smile and her paws on her hips.

Nick walked over and closed the doughnut box: “Someone’s angling for a spanking tonight”

Judy sauntered up on Nick, jumping up to nip on his left ear: “I love it when you try to act tough”


	11. (social) Justice of Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youth tends to inform idealism and high hopes of lofty rhetoric. It sounds fun, unless you're on the shit end of it. Also all of the nut puns. Alvin and his OG crew representing!

Well rested after a fun night of doing it like they do on the Discovery channel, and thanks to the bunny cop’s optimism and not giving in to despair, in the face of a slow IT department that moved at a glacial pace, Judy and Nick had their body-cam footage on an encrypted on a secure computer drive, ready to go, one that very next day.

It was thus on that crispy Friday morning that they signed off on the drive and headed out, driving off to ZU. Morning traffic being morning traffic, it took the two over half an hour to get maybe a third of the way...  
“Oh come on... walking there would be faster” Judy lamented, punching the steering wheel in frustration.

Nick, instead of using some snide remark, focused on a solution: Clicking their radio over to traffic news, the voice of some mammal up in a helicopter buzzed in from the speakers: “...at’s right Steve, I’m here over the E6, which looks completely gridlocked in the southbound direction. I’m not seeing any reason for it, rush-hour was about forty minutes ago. Hold on, there we go: I can see a car leading the southbound procession. It’s driving in the middle of the road very slowly, blocking everyone behind it”

Nick chortled, wondering how far ahead of them this turtle-mobile was. When he turned to ask Judy about this he didn’t see anything other than Judy out of the car, about to close the door, her going: “Take the wheel, I’ll go down and check on this”

Not able to do much else other than unbuckle, scoot over and take the wheel, Nick watched Judy bounce from car-roof to car-roof until she disappeared behind a truck.

About fifteen minutes later Judy called Nick up on their radio: “Nick, get ready to move – and don’t forget to pull over and pick me up when you get down here”

As traffic picked up Nick quickly got to Judy, who was standing next to a very elderly looking camel lady and her car in the emergency lane, both of which looked like they should have stopped driving ten or twenty years ago. It turned out that her late husband had died a few weeks ago, and this was the first time in a very long time that Madam Kösk had tried to drive, trying to visit a friend. 

Judy had managed to contact a younger and more capable family member of the camel, who would come and pick her up and drive old lady Kösk to her destination – though Judy had also noted that the camel’s driver’s license had expired some fifteen years ago, so if she wanted to drive again she’d have to get a new one and probably take a test or two to prove that she was still qualified.

Once Madam Kösk’s nephew showed up, Nick and Judy continued on their now unhindered trek to ZU.

It was almost noon when they arrived on campus, the amount of students milling about for the lunch-hour rush far higher than what the two had witnessed during their last visit.

“It’s like a sea of mammals...” Judy said dumbfounded, the concentration of students so much more higher than even the hustle and bustle in downtown Zootopia’s shopping districts.

Nick found himself enjoying the sight a lot more. It reminded him of when him and Finnick would show up on Fridays and sell cheap booze to the thirsty students, but as they trekked across campus he saw no sign of Finnick’s van.

What the duo did see was a quad getting set up for a concert – and a small protest making noise and waving signs about next to the roadies building the stage.

The moment Judy saw the protesters she instantly stopped and took cover behind Nick: “Oh cheeses, not them...”

Looking in the direction Judy seemed to be shying away from, Nick chuckled as he recognized the banners for the musicians setting being advertised: “You don’t like chipmunk rap? Finnick loves the stuff – he’ll probably come by later for this – DJ Deez Nuts, DN aka Double N aka Nasty Nut, oh and they have a new guy on tour... Busta Nut!”

Judy hadn’t paid much attention to the concert being set up – her issue was with the protesters: “No Nick, it’s the picketers – I’m under orders from city hall to stay the hell away from those crazies”

“Carrots, why does this sound like a fun story that you haven’t told me yet?” Nick asked, eye-balling the protesters while the bunny next to him didn’t exactly look as if she was looking forward to Nick finding that video.

The picketers were waving colourful cardboard signs with slogans like “No sluts for nuts” and “Nuts to that” – considering the rap artists being advertised, then seeing someone protest like that really didn’t surprise Nick.

Taking a detour so they got out of sight of the protesters, Nick inquired into why Judy had been told to stay away from some random bunch of student protesters.

Sitting down on a nearby bench, Judy sighed – deeply – and gave Nick a pleading look: “They’re not protesters... they’re idiots, they’re spiteful hateful morons who pick up a new cause every week, who actively seek out things to take offense to, and mess with anyone who tries to stop them”

“Ah, that sort” Nick said, nodding as if he knew exactly what Judy was talking about.

Judy’s nose twitched furiously: “That sort? So you know mammals like that?”

“Of course – they’re the ultimate hustlers. I used to look up to that kind of gimmick and feel really bad that I couldn’t exploit others the way they do” Nick noted, throwing a casual nod of respect in the general direction of the venue being set up.

Her feet flapping around freely in the air, as they had nothing to thump at, Judy’s expression of anger went became a largely futile exercise, which only made her more pissed at what Nick had said: “Hustlers? Nick, are you kidding me? These idiots protested at Bellwhether’s trial, claiming that she hadn’t done anything wrong. Right now they’re advocating censorship against any kind of art of music they simply don’t like, and a few months ago they were screaming obscenities from their picket line outside a video game developer because they think that playing violent video games means that you hate all women”

“Sounds about right – like I said, the ultimate hustlers” Nick said, looking almost dreamy.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Judy grabbed Nick’s tie and yanked his head down to her level: “Explain”

“They claim to be moral crusaders, right fluff? They appeal to emotion, not to reason, and set themselves up to help imaginary underdogs who only they seem able to help. Getting close? And I’ll be that they’ll have sent dozens of petitions to city hall, demanding that moral guardians with the right to censor the bad things they protest are set up? And of course they’re the only ones suited to be appointed to that kind of positions, right?” Nick guessed, loving the absolute look of shock and mild horror that spread over Judy’s face as he spoke.

Releasing Nick’s tie, Judy fell back on the bench, her body limp: “That... Nick you just saw them for like twenty seconds, how can you have figured them out that well so quickly?”

“They’re hustlers, and it takes one to know one – though while I’m sure that some of them actually believe the bull they spew, then I will bet you next butt-sex Tuesday that their leader or at least their biggest agitator is just exploiting the shit out of rest of them – you don’t rise to lead that kind of mammals unless you know that you’re talking shit” Nick mused, popping a stick of bacon out of a most likely unironically labelled oversized cigarette package, which featured a big warning sticker that read “Death sticks” – that it was full of fried bacon under that ‘title’ made Judy smirk.

“Alright, I get what you say... and damn, that really does explain a lot of what they tried to pull with me” Judy said as she got up from the bench and pulled out her smartphone.

While Judy looked up a map of the campus to find a route around the quad where the venue was set up, Nick asked: “What did they do?”

“Exactly what you described, sort of. I’ve butted heads with them at several protests – Bogo likes to assign me to those because I don’t look as intimidating so we avoid press photos of big scary cops looming over smaller protesters. I figure we’ll both get that kind of assignments now, but these morons they love to instigate fights with who-ever they’re protesting... or the cops trying to keep the peace... and then they’ll record it, edit the shit out of it, then post it and make you look like a monster who just randomly tase or mace ‘innocent’ protesters” Judy said, gesturing for her and Nick to go in a certain direction, away from the concert venue.

Nick rocked his head from side to side, sympathetic to Judy’s woes, but also in awe of this ‘moralist hustle’ as he saw it: “And I’ll bet that they’ve used those videos to push their message that they’re the underdogs and the only ones who can be trusted to fix whatever supposed problem they’re harping again”

Judy let out a frustrated guttural cry of frustration, confirming to Nick that this was exactly what those picketers had done to her – it also made him really curious at what videos were floating around online with Judy...

At the biology department Nick and Judy found the front door unlocked, as was usual for this time of day, and so they sought out Professor Mulberry’s office. He wasn’t there... and the door was ajar like last time.

“Lovely – shall I call in the hunt for the baconator?” Nick said jokingly.

Judy laughed: “Sure, you go ahead and sniff him out – I’ll go ask the mammal in that lab over there” and pointed towards a glass door that revealed a laboratory inside where a lone blurry silhouette of an mammal could be seen moving about.

Quickly abandoning his attempt at sniffing out the pig, Nick followed Judy into the lab. There was a harsh funk of strange chemicals, solvents and a hum of small electrical apparatuses churning inside the lab, with the mammal in his almost grotesquely stained and discoloured ‘might once have been white’ lab-coat, bobbing his head to whatever was playing in his ear-phones.

Tugging gently at the lab-coat to get the attention of the wolf, Judy awaited a response – which turned out to be that the wolf quickly spun around, saw Nick and Judy, and they saw that he was wearing a gas mask. The wolf then darted over to a panel and pushed some buttons, a loud ventilation system turning on, after which the wolf somewhat forcefully pushed both Officers out of the lab.

Outside the lab, with the door closed, the wolf pulled off his gas-mask: “Didn’t you see the sign?”

“What sign?” Judy asked, sounding somewhere between worried whether she and Nick had exposed themselves to something bad, and annoyed over the wolf’s rough handling of them.

Looking back at the door, the wolf face-paw’d: “Damnit, forgot to put it up – oh well, you’re not woozy or anything right?”

They were not.

“So, what can I do for you officers?” the wolf asked, beginning to peel off a plastic glove and patting down his ruffled up fur on his left paw.

Judy took a moment to compose herself, then asked: “We’re looking for Professor Mulberry – we have some video recordings he asked for”

The wolf looked over at the open door to Mulberry’s office: “If he’s not in there, odd... he usually camps out in there during lunch”

“Could he be somewhere else?” Nick asked, taking off his shades.

The wolf did a double take when Nick took off his glasses: “Wait, Nick Wilde? Is that you?”

“Guilty as charged – do I know you?” Nick asked, confident that wolf’s positive and surprised tone didn’t mean that the wolf’s past experiences with him were bad, or that he owed the wolf anything.

Peeling off his last glove, the wolf nodded fervently: “Dude - you and the little guy used to come around back when I was doing my masters and sell us booze – you saved so many of my frat’s parties from drying out!”

“Ah, right – well, that was then, and this is now – speaking of which, do you know where Mulberry is right now?” Nick said, courteously accepting the praise but choosing not to revel in it – because they had business to do... and... ok, it actually felt a weird for him to catch himself in putting duty above personal pride and glory, but he wasn’t complaining.

Thinking for a moment, the wolf said: “Right, ya – some old colleagues of his, two rams and a big eve, came to talk to him. I think they went downstairs to look at some old experimental rigs in storage”  
The wolf could barely see Nick and Judy from the cartoonish puff of smoke and dust whirled up as the two instantly sprinted towards the basement stairwell.

“Call this in – if they’re here we need all the backup!” Nick whispered urgently, tranq-gun at the ready.

Nodding, Judy paused at the top of the stairwell and called it in: “This is One-Ten-Six. Possible sighting of the nighthowler assassin and his two goons. We’re in the basement of ZU’s biology department building, that’s building sixteen”

The two waited for a few precious seconds for a response – they both knew that this would go up to Bogo, who in turn would probably want to tell if it was ok to go ahead or if they had to wait for backup.  
“This is Bogo – you two wait for backup! Go outside and see if you can spot any vehicle they arrived in. ETA is seven minutes!” the chief’s voice rumbled over the radio.

Judy’s right foot thumped furiously against the worm linoleum floor, her nose twitching up a storm. Looking up at Nick, he instantly recognized that predatory look in her eyes... she wanted this hunt, no, she needed it – and yet she reached up to her left shoulder at held down the button on her radio: “Yes sir...”

Outside, the two quickly did a once-over of the building – there were far too many exits for them to cover, but they did spot a van in a nearby parking lot: It had a big red Lotus of Love logo on its side.  
“Want to bet if I run those plates that it comes up stolen?” Nick said, shaking his head.

Judy didn’t answer – instead zipping up under the van and doing... something. When she emerged a few moments later, Nick tried to ask her what she had done, but Judy simply said: “Tracking device, one week’s battery life, gps ping set for every five minutes – Oat’s report said that they had left the compound in a small truck, not a van like this, they probably have a hideout somewhere else with that and probably their new nighthowler production setup”

“I could kiss you” Nick said, not in a tender tone, but in a display of respect and being genuinely impressed with her resourcefulness.

With that predatory look in her eyes, Judy added: “Though this does mean that we’ll have to flush them out before backup arrives...”

The nearest entrance to the building sixteen basement was what looked like a nearby cargo-ramp. Apparently the trio of rams had chosen their parking spot carefully.

“Of course... I know what they’re after” Nick blurted out, as Judy worked the lock with her ZPD standard issue lock-pistol, which looked suspiciously similar to what professional locksmiths used to unlock things they didn’t have keys for.

The lock on the door clicked open and Judy looked up: “What?”

“The gene-scrambler machine or whatever it was called – they’re probably looking to cook up a whole drug we don’t have any record of, so we can’t track them...”

The bunny agreed whole-heartedly that Nick’s hunch was sound, and so the two descended into the biology department’s basement, tranq-guns drawn and ready... knowing full well that they had been told to stay outside and wait.

Nearing the room where the ‘gene-scrambler’ machine had been in – Judy knew from Oat’s reports that it had been disassembled and taken to a secure lab for forensic testing and data recovery – the two officers heard... sounds.

It was not pleasant sounds: A squealing pig, Mulberry’s pleas for mercy, and a familiar voice that sounded very angry asking questions... and the intermittent thuds and bumps of someone getting beaten up.

Now, as a matter of biology, then the hearing of both foxes and bunnies was a lot better than that of sheep. This was common knowledge – and so Judy and Nick were able to very quietly whisper to each other, to coordinate their attack... because as far as they figured, then they only needed one of the rams to escape... and they had two darts ready for three rams – so the math seemed to add up just fine.

Nick took a deep breath. He had trained in slamming doors open and bursting at the academy – as had Judy – but unlike her then he had yet to do it in a real situation just yet. In a few seconds that wouldn’t be true anymore.  
“On three” Judy whispered.

Nick nodded.

Judy clenched her tranq-gun hard with her right paw, and raised her left paw to signal Nick.

One digit, two digits... go time.

The heavy basement door was one of those fire-protection doors – sturdy steel, painted in a dull brown color, and coated in a thin but noticeable layer of dust. It swung open a tad slowly, but... well... when the CSIs had to take the big machine out of the room, they had taken the door off its hinges because it got in the way – and when they had put the door back they had been so kind as to clean and lubricate the hinges – so the door swung open silently, right up until it hit the concrete wall when it was wide open, resulting in a very loud noise of metal bumping into concrete.

“Freeze, ZPD!” Nick and Judy shouted in glorious unison.

In the far corner of the storage room, illumined by too few ceiling lights, was a big patch of not dusty ground, outlining wher the gene-machine had been hidden – and next to that was Mulberry and the three rams.  
Mulberry looked like shit – a fat lib, a swollen eye, enough bruises to qualify him as black & blue pork, and his clothes were torn. The three rams around him were wearing cheap-looking generic grey hoodies and sweat pants, but there was no doubt: This was the same three rams that Judy and Nick had fought with at the original nighthowler lab.

The ram without horns, the cook and shooter, shouted: “Kill them!” with such rage and fury in his voice – there was no doubt that he recognized Judy and Nick.

The biggest of the three rams, the ram with an eye-patch and white wool, instantly turned and charged at the door. The two officers both let lose their tranq darts. One missed, one hit the third ram on his left arm – the one with the biggest horns of the three. He made a grunt that was equal part annoyed and shocked, with a voice that was eerily calm: “Pathetic”

As the ram with the eye-patch closed the distance to the door, Nick and Judy pulled back – letting the ram storm through the doorway, impacting the wall opposite. He left a ram-horn-imprint in the concrete.

Turning around, the ram didn’t seem to care about the stream of blood going down his forehead, coloring his wool crimson. Nick and Judy quickly moved towards the exit they had entered the basement through – neither wanted to get trapped in a corner with eye-patch charging right at them.

Ok, so luring one of the three away while the other got away wasn’t quite their plan – but it still worked... they just had to reload their tranq guns, which was a lot easier said than done when you were running and dodging for dear life, though once they made it outside they both had a lot more room to move in.

The ram with the eye-patch in turn wasn’t giving up any time soon either – with a seemingly singular focus on trying to either ram or grab one of the two, he kept trying to close his distance to either of them – but they were faster than him, but at the same time he wasn’t giving either enough time to reload their weapons.

With a lucky twist of his horns the ram knocked Nick’s tranq-gun out of his paws – Nick in turn drew his taser and had a go at the ram, but it simply tangled in the ram’s wool.

The ram laughed – it was a hideous and cold laughter, as the ram took advantage of Nick for once not having distanced himself from the ram... but with the time the precious seconds the ram had now just spent trying to grab Nick, Judy had reloaded.

Her dart hit the ram, but it was as if he didn’t care that his left arm went limp – because he had Nick in a firm grasp, and he was doing a dandy job of beating the crap out of the fox – only now he switched to headbutting Nick instead.

From Nick’s perspective then at that this point in time his life was but a series of random pulses of pain – he couldn’t really feel his face that much any more... except when it was hit, which didn’t feel that good. Weren’t you supposed to pass out from this kind of pain?

Judy leapt at the ram instead of reloading, jamming her taser into the ram’s neck with as much force as her small frame could muster. The ram didn’t even bleat, though he did spasm a bit and drop Nick who weakly managed to push himself away from the ram, before finally falling over.

As she tumbled backwards, out of the ram’s reach, Judy beheld the horrifying visage that was the eye-patch-wearing ram furiously trying to worm his way over the grass towards her. Like a really big wooly inch-worm, neither seemed to want to waste time getting up, but he was scrambling over the ground at a frightening pace.

Bounding up and backwards, Judy kept her distance – but even with her speed and the ram’s supposed reduced capacity for movement, then it was surprisingly difficult to stay away from him. She did however, have time to shout to her partner: “Nick, you ok?”

“Peachy” Nick groaned, fumbling for his spare tranq darts, even with his vision blurry.

Judy led the crawling ram on a merry chase. Despite the apparent advantage to her, then the ram’s seething rage appeared to give it endless stamina and energy – it grabbed the grass hard, pulling itself along the ground at a speed that would put most handicapped Zoolympic athletes to shame before it finally got up give proper chase.

“To me!” Nick cried out, a tranq dart held hard in each paw.

Judy was too busy trying to keep her escape routes clear to question Nick’s plan. Jumping off a bench, the bunny skipped over the ram and doubled back towards Nick, heading towards a tree. As she passed by Nick she snatched one of the dart’s from Nick.

Nick rolled out of the way as the ram thundered through, making a be-line towards Judy who was half-way up a tree.

Once fully up the tree, Judy steadied herself, finally finished reloading, and took careful aim.

The ram bleated furiously at Judy, giving the young-ish tree a strong headbutt. The shock to the tree made Judy drop and fumble with her tranq-gun for a few terrifying moments before she got a good hold of it again. Taking up her aim again, the ram snarled at her and tried to use the tree trunk itself as cover... wait, using cover intelligently? So he wasnt’ savage? But how did he then handle being tazed so many times?

As these thoughts shot through Judy, she tried once more to get a good shot at the ram – but he just wasn’t standing still – constantly twisting and moving to make it difficult to fire the dart with any degree of accuracy.  
“Hey ugly!” Nick cried out, him still on the ground.

The ram spun around very quickly, displaying remarkable coordination considering the amount of times he had whacked his head into the tree that Judy was up in. Nick was pointing a shaky paw at the ram, index finger out and thumb up: “Bang”

Judy fired a dart straight down into the Ram’s neck – one of the good spots she had been trained at the academy to hit mammals in, as such a hit usually means that the dart couldn’t be yanked out in time before the full tranquilizer dose is injected.

Realizing the deception, the ram bleated very angrily, stomping towards Nick with obvious intentions to stomp Nick into fox-paste, but with each step the ram’s strength faded as sleep beckoned with great speed...  
Jumping down from the tree just as the ram keeled over, Judy rushed over to Nick: “Are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”

Flipping over on his back, Nick took a deep breath. Once he was sure that doing so didn’t actually hurt, Nick staggered to his feet: “I think we can swing by the emergency room once we’ve dropped stinky here off at the precinct... he only got me in the face, nothing important”

“But I like your face...” Judy professed, patting her utility belt for a small anti-septic spray.

Nick winced as Judy roughly cleaned the wounds on his nose, cheeks and ears, though once she was done he found himself a lot more exasperated at the lovely combination the albeit fading stinging sensation in his wounds, and the prospect of having to somehow haul a mammal four or five times Nick an Judy’s combined mass.

Now, had the ram fallen over on a paved path or an asphalted road, then it would have been obvious to just find a cart or something similar to haul the ram back to the cruiser. Sure, the distance to the cruiser was less than half a mile... but this was on grass.

“Maybe we should just wait until backup comes?” Nick suggested, shaking his head at the unconscious ram and how just he totally would not be able to even make the sleeping wool-ball move in any way.

Judy assessed the situation and checked the time on her phone – backup should be there soon: “Ok, once they get here we’ll guide them over to us – I’ll go check on Mulberry, you stay here and make sure nobody runs off with our perp”

Nodding as Judy bounced off towards the biology department basement entrance, Nick jokingly called out: “Who would want to run off with nighthowler-head here?”

Judy either didn’t hear him or was in too much a rush to check up on Mulberry, because Nick didn’t get a reply. A few moments later he did figure out what Judy had meant, as a loud shout at the north end of the quad he was in heralded the coming of about two dozen colourfully dressed students with banners, picket signs, and nut-themed slogans...

“Of course they come this way when they broke for lunch” Nick said to himself, hurrying up with handcuffing the unconscious ram.

The small mob of students, having already spotted Nick and the ram, gathered up at the edge of the quad before marching towards the two. Nick adjusted his shades and tried to straighten up – his neck hurt a lot, so it was not the most comfortable pose, but he knew well enough that when he was in uniform he had certain standards he had to live up to, even if he had half a dozen bandaids distributed over his face curtesy of Judy having tried to patch him up already.

“Carrots, what’s Mulberry’s status?” Nick asked into his radio, hoping that the basement didn’t block the signal.

His radio came to life with a brief burst of noise followed by Judy’s voice: “He’s not doing feeling well – call in and ask if there’s already an ambulance on the way, or order one”

“Will do Carrots – by the way, you greatest fans, those picketers, they spotted me and they’re coming my way” Nick replied, wondering if he could grab a stick of bacon... no, the protestors were too close – and eating meat products in front of them would probably just make things worse.

As the mob of students got close Nick quickly spotted the first half dozen smartphone cameras aimed at him, recording everything he did. Up in front was a young lioness in very fancy and fashionable clothes, along with big red plastic ear-rings, and thick horn-rimmed glasses. Next to her was a young ram with small horns, the wool on top of his head dyed bright blue. Other mammals in the bunch had similar brightly colored garish dye-jobs. Oh the jokes NBick could crack at these mammals... but no, not while in uniform and not while on the job.

“Explain yourself!” the lioness with the big red plastic ear-rings and thick horn-rimmed glasses demanded, speaking as if she had caught Nick trying to eat the ram alive.

To Nick, being confronted by such a mammal was an interesting exercise. Based on his own earlier hypotheses, which Judy had confirmed were accurate based on her own anecdotal evidence, then this lioness was some kind of bully who used the other protesters and their agenda as an excuse for her own bad behavior.

It was actually a bit boring once you knew their game in advance – one of the fun challenges in hustling was figuring out other mammal’s scheme. Oh well, best keep them at a distance: “ZPD business – please keep your distance”

Nick knew that the standard cookie cutter answer wouldn’t satisfy the lioness – of course a uniformed police officer standing next to a handcuffed mammal was doing some kind of ZPD business. The lioness’ question had thus been rhetorical - her reaction to Nick’s statement confirmed this: “Pssh sure, business as usual – predators oppressing innocent prey mammals!”

Ok, this was... less good. Nick quickly realized that part of what Judy had said earlier was a lot more serious than he had thought. From behind his aviator-glasses he could see the anger and righteousness in the eyes of the mammals surrounding him – in the academy he had been taught the basics of crowd-control and how to spot the kind of mammal who, when in a crowd, would be likely to lash out if they thought they had safety and anonymity in a crowd.

All of these mammals looked like that. They had the ear-flicks, the nose-twitches, the lip-curling just shy of baring fangs – the works.

“Stand back – this ram is under arrest for attempted for two counts of attempted murder and a number of other charges” Nick said, knowing full well that the mammals around him probably wouldn’t care if the ram was a criminal or not... they were clearly only seeing a predator lording over a prey mammal.

With a haughty and dismissive huff the lioness sneered at Nick: “Sure he did – any righteous mammal would strike against their oppressor. It’s called rebellion, not murder, you... you fox!”

Nick felt sad – distraught even: There were so many witty retorts he could throw back at these jokers. So many jokes... oh Judy owed him big time for this.

“Hey – step away from the drug-fueled, murderous ram already!” Judy shouted.

Nick spun around, seeing Judy and a thoroughly roughed up Mulberry coming up from the basement entrance.

“Hopps... of course that little traitor would be partnered with a predator” the lioness hissed, sounding as if saying Judy’s last name was akin to invoking a curse. Many of the other protester mammals similarly vocalized their dislike for the bunny, mostly with hushed jeers and derisive snorts.

As Judy and the professor inched their way towards Nick, the fox was able to see the true extent of the pig’s injuries: His right arm looked... wrong, maybe broken or twisted out of its socket, and he was black and blue with bruises all over. The limp was also a dead giveaway, and many of the bruises were strong enough to have ripped his flesh, leaving bleeding wounds that Judy seemed to have run out of bandaids and bandages for, having used quite a few of them on Nick already.

The lioness of course saw something completely different: “Oh my goodness – beating up our teachers now? Got to keep the intellectuals in line, right? This is disgusting”

Judy shot Nick a look that wordlessly spoke volumes – mainly a “See what I’ve been dealing with?”

Nick’s expression in turn communicated a “Kill me now”

The professor reacted somewhat differently: He coughed, and then spat a wad of half-clotted blood and saliva at the lioness.

The protesters all shrieked and leapt back as if the lioness had been rendered unclean by a blasphemous toxin. The lioness herself was simply stunned.

It took a cataclysmic level of self-control for Nick not to laugh. Judy appeared to suffer similarly, if not more so, as she didn’t have shades to hide behind.

One could see the hamster-wheel spinning in the lioness’s head, but before she could come up with some way to spin this nasty blood-stain on her very nice-looking skirt, Mulberry angrily spoke up: “Didn’t the dean warn you idiots to stay away from the cops?! This will be the last drop – you can kiss your club funding goodbye now!”

Whatever the lioness had planned say fell apart in an instant – but at the same time it was obvious to Nick that if she backed down now, then she would lose the respect and loyalty of her scophant followers. If she wanted to retain her powers she had to double down...

... which she did: “Oh. My . Cheese. I cannot even – you’re siding with them now, after how they hurt you like this?”

Nick and Judy exchanged another look. Mulberry wasn’t biting: “Oh shut up you loud-mouthed moron – it was this ram here and two other ones who beat me up. These two officers saved me!”

Her minions opening their arms to receive him, the lioness implored: “Please, you’re with friends here – you don’t have to lie, come, we’ll get you to safety”

“Miss Krugumfang, your ability to reject reality and substitute your own never ceases to amaze me – now take your lioness butt and those of your goons, and get out of here. Last I checked the memo from dean then you only have a permit to protest at the stage they’re setting up in the evergreen quad, not in this quad” the pig said, his anger having evidently overwritten his pain, though once he was done talking he did slump over, Judy struggling to keep the pig upright.

The professor pulled out a mangled stick of bacon from a plastic bag-lined pocket in his blood-stained jacket, munching on it with a great sigh of relief.

Maybe it was being told off, maybe it was the meat, maybe it was the complete rejection of their bullshit – but the lioness took it poorly: With a half-snarled roar the lion prompted Judy to reach for her tranq gun, but Nick put a calming paw on her shoulder.

“You... you blood-mouth carnist! How dare you eat meat right in front of us! The Student mental health office banned all public bloodmouthing! And I am not a lioness, I’m DLAB trans-species-fluid! You transphobic shitlord!” the lioness roared, making Nick wonder if his earlier profile of the maybe-not-a-lioness was accurate or not... because from how she was tearing up, then it looked like she actually believed the lunacy she was saying about herself.

Mulberry found all that just too incredulous to say anything – but Judy quickly noted that the ram and his accomplices were all wanted in connection with the Bellwether case: “One of the three, if not maybe all of them, snuck around Zootopia shooting predators with the nighthowler toxin – this ram is dangerous, so please go away”

“Bellwether dindu nuffin!” the blue-‘haired’ ram bleated. The rest of the protesters chimed in, angrily repeating what appeared to be a well-rehearsed chant: “Free the eve, free Dawn now!”

Without any real fanfare – or warning – the towering form of Officer Delgato, the big, strong and striped tigress from Precinct One, swooped in and scooped up the unconscious ram.

Nick and Judy barely had time to thank their colleague for grabbing the ram before the protesters erupted into a gaggle of outrage for this ‘uncalled for kidnapping’ and whatever other flavours of baseless rhetoric they could come up with.

With the ram out of their fur, Nick and Judy ‘politely’ bid their farewells to the protesters and helped Mulberry to their squad car and took him to the nearest emergency room, though not before swinging by his office for a refill of their bacon reserves. While enroute they recorded a statement from the professor, and shared a few sticks of bacon:

“So they wanted the DNA-machine?” Nick repeated, just to confirm Mulberry’s story.

The pig let out a pained grunt: “Yup. They were pissed that we didn’t have it anymore – I’m still waiting to see if we can have it back once your forensic vandals are done ruining its calibration”

“Don’t see why you can’t have it – Oats said was bought with public funds, even if they were misappropriated for it” Judy suggested.

Nick nodded, taking notes: “Hey, you don’t think you’ll get in trouble for talking to those students like that?”

“Bah, oh oww... nah, perk of being one of only half a dozen scientists in Zootopia who understand how nighthowlers work. With the amount of grants that city hall has thrown after ZU to get me and the rest of the team to fully uncover the true nature of those plants and their toxins... oww... hehe, I could probably take a big ol’ shit on the deans desk and they wouldn’t be able to touch me. Plus I have tenure, so I could take a shit on the dean too if I wanted...” Mulberry said, his amusement only interrupted by his pain.

After dropping Mulberry off a the emergency room, where Nick was also treated and got a reasonably clean bill of health – for the x-rays did show that he somehow magically didn’t have a concussion – though the doctors were certain that the swelling around his eye and lips wouldn’t be going away for at least a couple of days: “You’re lucky that you didn’t lose any teeth – but you have a thick skull, or whoever pummelled you has a soft touch”  
“Positively wool-padded” Nick noted.

A weekend of rest, relaxation and sexual healing ensued – which, considering the events of the week, was very much needed. For kicks they tried watching a horror movie Saturday evening, but with all that had happened to them it simply came off as tame and predictable... and Nick wasn’t quite sure if he liked Judy’s reaction to seeing the villain of the movie, a mad butcher, chase after the young female lead, who was played by a young female eve.


	12. Watered Down Meat-freaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're leaving together,  
> But still it's farewell  
> And maybe we'll come back  
> To Zootopia, to tell?

It was a very early Monday morning when Chief Bogo arrived at precinct one. His mood was not good – for last he heard Nick and Judy had let two of the three rams that had worked directly for Bellwether escape... despite having been told to wait for backup.

The report from the two, which was waiting on his desk as ordered, did make for an interesting read though – it also made Bogo wonder when exactly those two had gotten that report into his office over the weekend... it was half an hour until muster in the bullpen – and neither Nick or Judy were in the habit of showing up to work that early before their shift started, especially not after they had gotten drugged and started dating.

Flipping through the pages of the report, Bogo actually felt a smile creep up on him: Their excuse for not waiting for backup was sound enough – they had written that they had heard through an air vent or something that someone was being beat up in the basement, and had rushed in to help... after putting a tracer on the nearby van from the resort: “Sure... heard through a vent my ass, now what frequency setting was that tracer set to?”

Giving Bogo the information, Judy in turn inquired about the ram they had caught.

“He still hasn’t woken up – they gave him a cure shot at the hospital but who knows if that’ll work on him. I have two officers there waiting for him to come around so he can be arrested” Bogo noted, dismissing Nick and Judy for the time being.

A bit later in the bullpen, Bogo presented the latest location signal from the tracer and the battle-plan for the bust: “Thanks to Officer Hopps and Wilde we got a location on the rams. I’ve had some non-uniformed officers from precinct three swing by in hobo suits during the weekend and confirm it: There are two rams hiding in a small empty warehouse in the Canal District. Hopps, Wilde, since Oats is still out on sick-leave it’ll just be you with the TUSK team on point plus whatever amount of backup we’ll need to cover the exists” Bogo opened with, pointing to a map of the canal district with a big red pin on it.

Judy gestured that she had a question. Bogo nodded at her. Judy stood up on her chair next to Nick: “Sir, you mean we don’t know how many exits there are?”

“No we do not – I’m still awaiting a final report from the non-uniformed officers” Bogo said thoughtfully, but then his face shifted in an almost mischievous gaze, accompanied by a bemused tone: “Any volunteers who want to be part of taking down this last shred of Belwether’s operation?”

Everyone volunteered, enthusiastically so.

Once all the hooting and hollering had died down Bogo picked four senior officers – Sergeant Mchorn, Officer Delgato, Wolford and Francine – to assist Nick and Judy. Everyone else were sent out on normal patrol duty and investigations, with quite a few looking fairly disappointed. 

After everyone else was gone Bogo pulled up a schematic for the warehouse: It wasn’t that big, but there were several doors – however the markings on the last update of the drawings was that some of the doors and windows had been bricked up, though whether this was up to date was unkonwn. The final report from the on-scene non-uniformed officers snooping around the place confirmed that there was only skylights and two doors, plus the front gate for trucks and large mammals.

“Alright – Mchorn, Delgato, you cover the north-side doorway, Wolford and Francine you cover the east-side door. Hopps, Wilde, you will be trailing the TUSK team from the front when they breach – stay behind them and provide cover where needed, then follow them in and make the arrests” Bogo elaborated, detailing his plan for how to take down the two rams.

“Do we have any idea if they hired any extra muscle after leaving the resort? If they still have just a fraction of the money Bellwhether embezzled...” Francine asked, referring to the quite large sums of money that had been found to be missing during the Bellwhether investigation, money that the eve had likely used to pay off mammals like the rams.

Bogo agreed that they weren’t operating on much – but the tracer signal was clear and hadn’t moved since last Friday, and the two un-uniformed cops there had confirmed that there were only two mammals inside the place, and no outside security.

“What about the nighthowlers? They had that trap with the powder at the resort that nearly got me and Nick” Judy mentioned, feeling that Francine’s worries were well-founded.

Nodding ever so slightly, Bogo noted that the TUSK squad had been training heavily for the last few years in counter-terrorism busts and ABC ERP with that in mind.

“So... grammar police and erotic role-play? Kinky...” Nick quipped, quickly regretting his choice of words as Bogo’s furious gaze landed on him: “No Wilde – ABC as in Atomic, Biological and Chemical Emergency Response Protocol”

“They basically practice running around in sealed raincoats and gas-masks” Judy joked – eliciting chuckles and giggles from the other officers present, except Nick who seemed rather disappointed that he hadn’t come up with such a good joke – even Bogo seemed amused – although the biggest part of the joke was that it was fairly spot on actually.

Another point of order was everyone getting a cure-shot in advance, which prompted Nick to ask why the TUSK team was even needed with their ‘raincoats’ and gas-masks: “If we’re all immunized, why don’t we just roll in like that – they can’t hurt us now, right?”

The look on Bogo’s face, in response to Nick’s question, was not one of disapproval – because on the surface the Nick’s question seemed very logical, with its implication that grand defensive measures against chemical and biological agents would then be unnecessary, sounding very sensible.

“Nick did you ever manage to give a savage mammal a cure-shot before you tranquilized?” Francine asked, her tone not much different than when she had asked her other question earlier.

No he had not. This, combined with the looks from everyone else, told Nick that the implications to that question also informed the necessity of the TUSK team’s ABC gear: “I’m going to take a wild guess – it’s bad?”

“We learned fairly quickly when the cure was being developed and tested on the savage mammals – it’s not that bad, but having two flavours of mind-altering drugs battling for control of your brain doesn’t leave much room for ‘you’ in there – you were at the academy when that happened, plus it didn’t get much news coverage since it was before we went public with the cure” Judy explained.

Bogo nodded, tapping the map with the warehouse: “Suffice to say, even with your cure-shot, if you get hit by a nighthowler pellet you’re down for an hour or so until your system recovers – so don’t get hit”

Nick took the warning to heart, leaving him a tad more silent and serious-looking during him and Judy’s drive to the warehouse. Trailing the armoured paddy wagon full of TUSK squadies, they arrived at the warehouse without any kind of sirens or fanfare...

Everyone filed out in relative silence. The TUSK squad looked... comical: Their usual tactical tear, an outfit that Nick had so wanted to try on back at the academy – only to realize, once he was allowed to try it on, just how heavy all that kit was – was covered by what looked like extra thick clear plastic bags with holes cut for their arms and heads. Comical didn’t even begin to describe how they looked. 

Still, there was one thing about the TUSK squad that didn’t look comical: Their weapons – they weren’t using tranq guns like regular officers... they were using real firearms. Nick had only seen presentations about those at the academy – getting real firearms was pretty much impossible in Zootopia compared to tranq guns and tasers. It made the whole situation come off as far more serious, and pretty much cancelled out the TUSK squad’s funny appearance.

The TUSK sergeant gestured for Nick and Judy to come over to them. The boar’s face was obscured by his gas mask, but it had a built in radio through which he spoke, his voice of that gruff “two bottles of whiskey a day” flavour: “We’ll start to set up for a breach now – tell us when the other exits are covered”

Nick and Judy nodded, radioing the two other teams:

“Mchorn, are you two in position?” Judy asked, with a paw on her radio. There was no reply.

The two exchanged worried looks, and quietly ran around the building, radioing Wolford and Francine while enroute: “Francine, Mchorn and Delgato aren’t responding – you two ok?”

The bunny and fox cop rounded a corner and found themselves faced with the rhino, tigress and the ground around the two covered in blue powder. The two were not moving, though even from a distance it was clear that they were still breathing.

It was then that Francine’s voice crackled in over the radio: “Wolford is down! They trapped the door with that nighthowler powder!”

“Damnit... ok, Francine see if you can find a way to sweep or the fan the powder away. Don’t touch it. Then try to just block the door and then get Wolford to safety, call us when you’ve done that” Judy instructed, the elephant acknowledging the order a few seconds later.

Nick didn’t even need to be told what to do, having heard what Judy had told Francine. Looking around for something clear out the nighthowler powder, he spotted an old rubber hose hooked up to a water tap, all the while Judy informed Bogo of what was happening: The chief was, for a variety of reasons, less than pleased – but said that he was sending backup, but that it would be a while before it could be there: “Sir, with the traps set up they are sure to know we’re here – I don’t think we have time before they make a run for it”

“Try to keep them there – and follow the TUSK squad. If they are ready to move in, follow right after them and get these perps!” Bogo boomed over the radio. 

Water worked well to flush the powder on the ground away, allowing Nick and Judy to get up close to Mchorn and Delgato – as well as get up to the door. A pile of wooden crates and a plastic barrel that was quickly filled with water blocked the door just fine.

“Hey fluff, how many fire code regulations are we breaking by closing off these exits?” Nick asked as he looked at the quite thoroughly blocked door with no small amount of satisfaction.

Judy, tapping her radio anxiously in anticipation from Francine, Judy shrugged: “Enough – but they don’t really count when trying to bust criminals like these two”

Once Francine called in and said that she was done barricading her door, Judy radio’d the TUSK sergeant and updated him. He didn’t sound surprised, but he was happy that the exits had been covered none the less: “Didn’t think they would put traps on the outside – anything could have set those off. Get back here – we’ll breach in ninety seconds”

Nick and Judy hurried back, ordering an ambulance for Mchorn and Delgato – not that they had looked hurt, but leaving them lying unconscious wasn’t exactly the right thing to do either.

At the front gate, the TUSK squad had prepared... something. It was difficult to see exactly what, but two of them were using what looked like handheld gaming devices – only stripped down for TUSK use.

The sergeant, seeing Nick and Judy, nodded and then gave them a stern gesture to get in cover behind their cruiser.

Doing so, Nick and Judy watched with baited breath as the TUSK squad silently executed the first two steps of their breach: First one of the two console operators did... something. He pushed a button, and a muffled noise was heard from inside the warehouse. Then the other console operator pushed a button, which was followed by a muffled but audible ‘pop’. A few seconds later water with blue dust in it began to seep out from under the gate.

“Oh that is just brilliant” Nick whispered, tense with excitement from having just seen all the fun toys he learned about in the academy actually being used.

Judy appeared slightly more confused, but Nick quickly pointed out that with what the Sergeant had said earlier, then it looked like the TUSK squad had used mini-cameras to spot a nighthowler powder trap on the inside of the gate: “...and now they’ve somehow triggered the trap remotely, and washed it away by starting the fire suppression system! This just like in the Jack Savage movies!”

Judy had to admit that the resemblance to action movies was there – but when four TUSK squadies came out of their armoured vehicle with a battering ram and charged at the door she quickly fell silent and just watched.

As the door was busted open the whole squad of eight TUSK members rushed in. There were brief bursts of gunfire, but then.. then the screaming began.

Also the water.

One TUSK team member tumbled backwards out of the gate, apparently pushed out the force of what looked like a riot-hose grade water cannon set up inside. The boar’s ABC shroud – the plastic rain poncho – had been shredded, and his gas mask had been wrecked as well.

The poor soul didn’t even manage to get a word in edgewise before he had a brief seizure and then fell unconscious. Nick and Judy... well, they were ready to shit themselves.

“So... that’s what it looks like when you get nighthowler’d when you have a fresh cure shot?” Nick noted, trying to saying to at all, simply so he wasn’t just hearing the screams and shouts from inside the darkness of the warehouse.

Judy’s ears were twitching and rotating around like crazy, trying to pick up all the sounds coming from inside the warehouse: “Nick, that water thing they’re using – can we turn that off out here?”

Nick, too terrified to really think for himself at the moment, absentmindedly answered: “Sure, but water mains are underground”

Looking around for a sewer-grate or manhole cover, Judy spotted one next to the TUSK vagon and pulled Nick over to it: “Quickly! We need this open!”

Nodding, Nick collected himself and looked at the rusty steel manhole cover. Good thing that most sewer workers were semi-aquatic mammals – and that few of them were bigger than beavers – so while the thing was heavy, then it wasn’t so heavy that Nick and Judy couldn’t pry it open.

The funk that burst from the cover was positively revolting – both Nick and Judy gagging hard as the first whiffs caught their noses – but they both knew they had to do this if they want to save the remaining TUSK members inside the warehouse.

Judy jumped down, while Nick crawled down the ladder. The lighting in the sewer was... not really there – but there was at least a nice ledge to walk on so it wasn’t necessary to swim, and both of them had powerful flashlights.

One thing that the two quickly discovered was that plain sewers were easy to get lost in – which was apparently also something that sewer workers had learned long ago, so there were surprisingly good signage all over the place.

“This way for water main control valves” Judy said, her eyes watering, as she lit the way with her flashlight.

The control valve for the warehouse was – just like the manhole cover – also made for otters, so turning it wasn’t that difficult, though the big wheel had that not so delicious sticky, lumpy and slimy sensation not entirely unlike running a digit through a freshly filled baby’s diaper. It also smelled like a freshly filled baby’s diaper. Didn’t look nearly as bad though.

Racing back to the surface, Nick and Judy relished in the fresh air – and the silence... there was no more water canon insinde. Judy spat on the ground: “Ugh, I can still taste it – Nick, you have a smoke stick?”

Nick pulled out his XL sized long-smoke cigarette pack which had had its contents swapped with fried pork. Pulling out a stick of bacon and breaking it in two, he handed Judy one half then took the other up to his nose and took a deep whiff – now that was a good to cleanse your nostrils.

Having regained their senses they tried their radio, but they didn’t get any reply: “This is Hopps, any TUSK members, please respond!”

Nothing, only silence.

Though, a few moments later that silence was shattered by the sound of a truck starting up inside the warehouse – the unmistakable engine rumble was a dead give-away.

“They’re going to get away!” Judy cried out, scrambling over to the downed TUSK squady and pocketing what was left of her half stick of bacon.

Nick quickly followed behind the bunny, though he wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing.

As she rifled through the TUSK member’s pockets and packets, Judy very quickly went over what amounted to her ‘plan’ with Nick: “Ok, we have to stop them from getting away – right?”

“Right – but I don’t want to get run over... Judy – we have to move! They’re coming!” Nick implored, torn between wanting to get the hell away from the gate and staying by Judy’s to defend her... somehow...

Finally! Judy pulled the darts out of one of the unconscious TUSK team member’s small pockets – special darts: They weren’t the usual bright orange-red color. These were metallic, and had foam plugs over the tips.

Nick watched as Judy drew her tranq gun, cocked it, dialled up the gas pressure and then loaded the foam-tipped dart.

“Carrots – whatever you’re planning, do it now or get the hell away from the door!” Nick shouted, the truck having pulled around inside the warehouse... it was driving towards the gates – Nick could see the front lights.

Judy took careful aim: She only had one shot... and she needed to get closer!

Jumping over the TUSK squady, Judy got up into the open doorway, standing on the busted in door to the warehouse... took careful aim – oh yes, uncork the razor-darts – now aim...

Nick was stunned. Terrified and stunned. Terrified, stunned and shocked – Judy had just leapt towards the truck instead of away from it!

There was a loud bang, quickly followed by a nasty sound of heavy steel grinding against concrete – and then the truck lights swerved to the left – disappearing back into the warehouse – followed by an even louder crash.

“Come on – now’s our chance!” Judy shouted, charging into the warehouse.

Nick had to shake the jitters our of his paws before he could follow her, but he did, with his tranq gun drawn.

The inside of the warehouse was dimly lit, and the concrete was moist and covered in evenly distributed tiny puddles of water muddied with dust. Near the wall around the gate was the TUSK team, none of them moving - and they were wearing too much kit to see if they were breathing... hopefully they were just knocked out like the guy outside.

Hot on Judy’s heels, Nick saw the truck: It had tipped over on its left side – and the rams were scrambling out of the up-ended passenger’s seat.

“Freeze!” Judy shouted, Nick’s academy training kicking in as if by instinct, his tranq gun flying up to aim at the two rams.

They didn’t stop – didn’t even take the time to shout back some disparaging remark – so in return Nick plugged one of them with his dart. The ram let out a very deep bleat, flailing at his rear before he simply keeled over on the side of the truck.

Judy continued around the truck, Nick shouting: “Wait!” as she disappeared around the hood of the truck.

A short squeak later, just as Nick rounded the hood of the truck, he found himself faced with the ram – the last ram – the cook – the shooter – the assassin – who was holding Judy tight around the neck, up to his chest, with a nighthowler-pellet gun held to her head.

Nick, compared to the ram, was armed with a tranq dart gun that hadn’t been reloaded yet. Of course, the ram was ‘only’ armed with a pellet gun – worse thing that would do was knock him or Judy out – so... evenly matched Then again, the ram was twice Nick’s height and maybe four times his mass, so... not so evenly matched.

Holstering his gun and reaching for his taser, Nick kept his sunglass-covered eyes trained on the ram.

“Don’t! Or I’ll wring her neck!” the ram said, his tone as desperate as the looks he were throwing around for other exits.

Casually waving the taser about, Nick took two steps towards the ram, who in turn took a single step back –all the while Judy struggled to get the ram to release his iron grip on her throat – to which Nick simple remarked: “You do... and I’ll nail you not just for doing Bellwether’s dirty work, but straight up murder. You know what the difference between those two is?”

The ram scowled angrily at Nick, making the fox wonder if the ram could even recognize Nick. Answering his own question, Nick explained: “It’s the difference between thirty years behind bars – and them just throwing away the key”

Pointing the pellet gun at Nick, the ram shouted: “screw you – I nail you, twig her and I’m out of here!”

“I know – which makes me wonder why you haven’t already... could it be that your gun isn’t loaded? We never found any signs of any pellet making gear at the resort – or you load that thing with your new night-humper pills?” Nick snarked, certain that the ram’s use of the gun because Oats had indeed found no signs of pellet production, though he could be wrong, so it was at least partially a bluff.

With an angry bleat the ram suddenly threw the gun at Nick, who had to jump out of the way in order to dodge. The gun hit the wet concrete with a clatter and sprung open, revealing an empty pellet hopper – during which the ram moved Judy around so he had both hooves somewhat free, holding Judy in a headlock with his right arm instead.

One tiny detail of the ram changing his grip on Judy was that she managed to wiggle her arms free – not that she could move much else, and whatever few kicks she could land on the ram were absorbed by his wool. Only thing she could reach was her pockets, but she had already been disarmed of her taser. Only thing she could grab was... a quarter stick of bacon.

Oh yes...

Nick found Judy’s change in expression strange – and a bit worrying. She had gotten that predatory look in her eyes again... only this time she had that look while looking down at the arm over her throat.  
If there ever was a book on the fundamentals of hustling, then the core principles would have to include things like constant readiness, situational awareness and a great willingness to just go with the flow – because you never knew when your partner might do something unexpected to keep your mark off-guard. 

For Nick this was all highly relevant because he could see that Judy was about to do something... but what? And did he need to distract the ram first? He better...

“So... you expect me to just let you walk out of here with a police officer as a hostage?” Nick quickly asked, specifically trying to come off as standoffish and haughty, to impress on the ram the certainty that such actions simply wouldn’t work out well.

The ram threw Nick a rather rude gesture and was about to say something when Judy bit down on the ram’s arm hard – Nick could even tell that she drew... no, that wasn’t just blood – that was a chewing motion – and... that’s a crumpled up bit of bacon in her right paw – alright carrots, so that’s your game plan!

Screaming in pain while trying to pull the bunny off his arm – without actually letting go of her – the ram pushed back on her head with his left hand, while releasing pressure on her throat with his right arm – which was exactly what Judy had apparently hoped for.

Being bitten – or having something try to eat you alive – struck at a very deep and instinctive nerve for the ram. He could feel his skin burning and stinging as it was being ripped and cut by the bunny’s large and surprisingly sharp front teeth. It simply felt wrong on so many levels...

When Judy finally let go, satisfied that she had drawn enough blood – and snuck enough bits of bacon up to the wound - she snapped her head back and laughed, her mouth clearly full of bloody chunks of... meat...  
The ram wavered for a moment – what he was seeing simply should not be possible, at least not according to his world view – yet he also knew well enough that if he dropped his hostage then he was screwed.

“Oh come on – at least wait until we do him in and clean the carcass like Mulberry before you start. You don’t know where he’s been – he probably has probably has manure or chemical fertilizer dust in his wool at this point” Nick mock-lamented, pulling out his packet of bacon and making a very big deal out of drawing a stick out, waving it accusatorily at Judy.

The smell of fried flesh hit the ram almost instantly: “That’s... fuck... what are you two!?”

Judy laughed, making sure to spill bloody bits of chewed up bacon from her mouth as she spoke: “A product of your own making... you have any idea what repeat exposure to nighthowlers does to a bunny?”

“Ya, once you’ve felt that hunger enough times... it doesn’t go away” Nick said, looking as if he was in some kind of underground food porn as he tooi a bite off the stick of bacon with his bared teeth. It somehow made the bacon taste better.

Rearranging his grip on the bunny so he held her arms down around her chest with both hands, keeping her mouth well out of reach of him, the ram looked very much as if he was regretting his choice of hostage: “You... you’re lying!”

“Sweety – does this look like I’m lying?” Judy said, turning her head and sticking her blood-covered tongue out at the ram with a few chunks of meat on it: “You should see what’s in his freezers back home. We always have room for one more”

An almost panicked bleat heralded the ram’s loss of composure, as a pungent smell of piss began to waft from his pants.

“You never tested what might happen if a mammal got a dose of both the original savage formula and your love drug? Didn’t you consider they might get all sappy for going savage?” Nick followed up, discretely starting to reload his tranq gun behind his back, seeing as the ram was putting all of his attention on the blood soaking into the fur around Judy’s mouth.

The ram held Judy out at Nick, who quickly pretended to simply be holding his paws behind his back, as if waving Judy at Nick was some kind of threat: “No, stay away – I’ll crush her!”

With a click that was just a little too loud to cover up, Nick finished reloading the tranq gun, to which end he threw caution to the wind and pointed it at the ram.

Trying to cover himself with Judy, the ram quickly realized that he was a much bigger target that the living shield he was holding up. Nick noticed that too: “You do realize they make us take marksmanship training at the academy right? At this range I could hit you if I just threw the dart myself”

Without mentioning the fact that throwing the dart probably wouldn’t make it hit hard enough to properly pierce the ram’s skin, something that the ram didn’t seem to know either, Nick began taking careful aim all the while giving the criminal a very toothy grin.

“I’ll kill her! I’ll break her in half before you knock me out!” the ram shouted, waving Judy at Nick once more.

Ok. This was it: Nick had the ram exactly where he wanted him. Speaking softly, and in a quite eerily calm tone, Nick said: “Sure you will, and then I dart you, and then... well... both me and Judy got hosed down by your trap at the resort, but we each took a gel pill with your love drug to avoid going savage, which worked, sort of – and I’m sure you know what happens to mammals to take that drug together...”

“Wait... you two... how does that even work?” the ram said in a mix of confusion and disgust. 

Perfect – now for the punchline to get the ram to drop Judy: “Let’s just say bunnies are stretchy – now, back to my point: If you kill her, I won’t just be angry at you for killing a fellow officer, I’ll fly into a murderous rage from seeing you kill the woman I love. That means that no court in Zootopia will fault me for gutting you like a fish... not sure if the tranquilizer can keep you asleep for that, though you sure won’t be able to fight back, but if that’s how you want to go...”

The ram trembled. His lips quivered, his eyes darted to and fro, and it looked like his grip was easing up... and yet he wasn’t dropping her entirely: “No, I keep her as hostage until I’m out here!”

“Nick, when you’ve gutted him, make sure to bag the good bits – remember that cooking show we saw Saturday evening? I really wanted to try that...” Judy commented, sounding very much like some random bunny off a cooking show.

Hold on – they hadn’t seen any cooking shows recently. The closest thing was that horror movie with the mad butcher who made... oh...

“Judy, do you remember that recipe? I’m a little hazy” Nick replied courteously, inviting Judy to say the instructions.

The ram looked very nervously at the bunny, for she was still looking at him with those hungry predator eyes.

“Haggis – the heart, lungs and liver of a sheep, boiled in its own stomach” Judy recited, as if casually reading off a checklist in a cookbook.

It was just too much – too far out – too crazy. With a soft splish Judy dropped down down onto a dusty puddle, as the ram fell to his knees, vomiting. Nick didn’t wait for any invitation to dart the ram.

Spitting out what was left of the bloody bacon bits from her mouth, Judy clutched her chest: “Eww... oww...”

Nick rushed over to Judy, but she raised a paw to stop him: “Check the rams, see if they’re ok– then check the TUSK team, I’ll just sit here and wait until backup arrives”

“You sure you’re ok?” Nick said tentatively, looking at how Judy was holding her chest.

Shaking her head, Judy strained a smile: “I’ll live long enough for the ambulances to show up – though I could use some water to clean out my mouth... blah that did not taste good”

With a slight chuckle, Nick reminded Judy that they had just turned off the water for the whole building... hell, probably for the whole block. The expression of disappointment and revulsion Judy produced in return, as she briefly contemplated the disgusting flavours her mouth was currently rife with, was beyond priceless: “Nick you either find me some water or we’re expanding our sex-life into impromptu watersports right now”

“Geez fluff ok, I’ll go see if the rams left a water bottle behind or something” Nick said, finding it difficult but diplomatically necessary to not smirk or laugh at that moment – also he had absolutely no interest in taking a wiz in Judy’s mouth.

Over the next six or seven minutes two water bottles were found, and emptied, and the rams and TUSK team were all checked up on. The TUSK team that had been water cannon’d inside the warehouse were a bit worse for wear, having been slammed up against the warehouse wall. One had a broken tusk, and all of them were heavily bruised. 

Backup arrived not long after that, along with several ambulances and a small phalanx of very curious journalists – but luckily the backup also included Bogo who quickly commandeered the attention of the journalist, so Nick and Judy could get the medical attention they needed.

The aftermath of the raid of the warehouse resulted in Nick and Judy each getting a nice shiny medal from Mayor Swinton, who in turn rose a bit in the polls by milking the shit out of the fact that Bellwether’s nighthowler operation had finally been completely terminated, though Nick couldn’t help but notice that Swinton hadn’t looked happy at the medal ceremony.

With the shooter and cook already having a mountain of other ironclad convictions in the wind for him, the District Attorney didn’t bother charging him with holding Judy hostage. This meant that Nick and Judy’s ‘bacon hustle’ used to free Judy wasn’t presented as evidence and thus didn’t become a matter of public record – though Bogo did let the two know that Mayor Swinton had actually not wanted to give them any medals due to their consumption of bacon, even if it was ‘ethically produced’.

Still, with the rams locked up and their nighthowler production shut down there was only the guru and his resort where such things were still made –and that was only the love-drug version, and unlike the rams then the guru didn’t seem to have interest in using the drug outside of the confines of his resort.

This didn’t prevent various ‘interest groups’ from lobbying for the legalization of commercial sale of this love-drug – and mammals like Professor Mulberry appeared repeatedly in the press, talking about the medical potential of the drug as a very potent sleep aid... as long as you took it without any intimate partners around, though he did insist that further testing on that would be necessary before he would consider the drug safe to use in hospitals and whatnot.

Some didn’t want to wait for that... but that’s for a different story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should note. Having finished the two sequels to this story, I deeply regret writing the TUSK team as having 'real' guns. It screws up the setting.
> 
> I should have written it as them only having bladed/razor darts. I might just re-write this story at some point to fix that - but its a minor detail.


End file.
